France has announced the easing of travel restrictions for the following seven non-EU countries; Australia, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
All non-essential travel outside of the EU was banned by the French government on 31st January in an effort to lower the spread of new Covid-19 variants, including the UK variant. However the country is now easing these restrictions for a chosen seven non-EU countries, For these countries travel is now allowed both to and from France, with ‘a compelling reason for travel’ no longer necessary, the foreign ministry stated.
🇫🇷🌏 Français établis à l’étranger, des assouplissements mis en place pour vos déplacements :
— Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (@JBLemoyne) March 11, 2021
🔹 Fin des motifs impérieux depuis 7 pays dont le Royaume-Uni et Israël,
🔹 Ajouts de motifs familiaux aux motifs impérieux pour les autres pays de résidence ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/o84xJV72df
Of course several safety measures remain in place for travellers, for example the ministry stated that all arrivals are still required to provide a negative Covid-19 test result issued less than 72 hours before travel. Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said the UK was included in the list of countries as the UK variant of Covid-19 is already widespread in France. However, the easing of restrictions will have little immediate impact on the UK residents as no travel abroad for leisure purposes is permitted there until mid-May at the earliest.