France stops British driving through and closes its borders to all Brits. Britons who live in the European Union can no longer drive through France to their homes elsewhere in the bloc under new regulations that have created confusion for many holiday travellers.
Thousands of Britons take the Channel Tunnel from England to France, using Eurotunnel’s Shuttle service, to drive from the UK to their homes in other EU countries.
The change caught hundreds of Britons off guard as they prepared to return from family visits over the holidays.
Paris and London have been at loggerheads over a range of thorny subjects, including fishing and illegal immigration, since Britain’s official exit from the EU nearly two years ago. And many have indicated the French are still sore for Brexit and this is part of their retaliation.
France stops British driving through
But under new Covid travel rules being applied since December 28 by French authorities, only Britons whose official primary residence is in France are being allowed in.
“Unless they hold French residency, British citizens are now considered third-country citizens and can no longer transit France by road to reach their country of residence in the EU,” Eurotunnel said in a tweet late Wednesday.
P&O Ferries issued a similar tweet warning that “only those with French residency will be permitted to enter France.”
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A French interior ministry official said it had not changed its list of “compelling” reasons enabling Britons to travel to France but had clarified their application this month by border police.
“It seems logical to consider them like all other third-country citizens and to not allow their transit toward another EU country,” the official said, asking not to be identified by name.
All tourism and professional travel from Britain has been suspended since December 18 as France tries to slow the spread of the omicron Covid variant.
On its travel advice website, the British government said France had indicated that Britons would not be allowed to transit to France “unless they are travelling by air.”
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