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HEALTH-VIRUS-EU-BORDERS
EU tries to prevent Covid border chaos
BRUSSELS, Feb 15, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The European Commission urged better
coordination between EU members on Monday, a day after Germany imposed border
measures to stem the spread of new coronavirus variants.
The EU executive said it was sending letters to all 27 members to highlight
travel recommendations they had agreed to last October to prevent the chaos
seen at the start of the pandemic, when unilateral closures snarled traffic
and freight.
Germany has been filtering crossings from Austria and the Czech Republic
since Sunday in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus variants that emerged
in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.
And Germany said on Monday it would not rule out doing the same on its
border with France, where the South African variant is gaining ground in the
eastern Moselle region.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said Berlin was
“continuing to monitor the situation”, adding that pandemic measures were
under constant review.
He said border closures were a “last resort” but insisted Germany had to do
everything it could to stop the new variants spreading as quickly in Germany
as they had elsewhere.
Earlier, France’s Europe Minister Clement Beaune had urged Germany not to
close the border.
“We will do everything to avoid an uncoordinated decision and a nasty
surprise,” said Beaune.
He added that any border closures should be introduced in coordination with
France and include as “wide-reaching exceptions as possible” to protect
cross-border workers.
– No ‘blanket bans’ –
Germany’s new rules on its borders with the Czech Republic and Austria’s
Tyrol mean only German nationals or residents of Germany are allowed through.
Essential workers in sectors such as health and transport can also enter,
as well as those crossing for urgent humanitarian reasons, according to the
German interior ministry.
Everyone must be able to provide a recent negative coronavirus test.
The checks led to long traffic jams at border crossings on Monday, with
some drivers waiting several hours.
The European Commission has expressed unease with Germany’s curbs, and with
restrictions Belgium imposed last month that control the flow of all non-
essential travel in and out of its territory.
A commission spokesman, Christian Wigand, said the EU wanted its members to
follow recommendations agreed in October based on colour codes related to
infection risk, rather than going it alone.
“We expect all member states to follow this coordinated approach and travel
restrictions based on the common colour code,” he said. “Border closures or
blanket travel bans should be avoided.”
A spokesman for the German interior ministry insisted on Monday that the
country’s policy combined “European thinking with local needs”.
The issue is to be discussed at the next meeting of EU European affairs
ministers on February 23.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 2359 hrs