Travel to EU may not be straightforward next year

[Lightning]

Follow the REAL News and take care to separate facts out from speculation.

Currently no entry to France unless deemed on the permitted category, for example.

Perhaps you have misunderstood what is actually happening, from the FT:

https://www.ft.com/content/43a5b078-9102-4972-b5a8-b52a0081fb94

Most Britons will be barred from visiting EU countries from January 1 when pandemic safety rules that allow free travel within the bloc stop applying to the UK. The end of the Brexit transition period means that the UK will be subject to a system that only allows non-essential travel from a handful of non-EU countries with low coronavirus infection rates, the European Commission said. EU member states have shied away from overriding a recommendation to stop the entry of travellers from countries such as the US, which are not on the list of “safe” third nations. Only eight of the countries with very low coronavirus infection rates are on the list. Eighteen EU countries have a higher rate of infection than the UK, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Covid Tracking Project and national health ministries. Britons will only be able to travel to EU countries if the bloc relaxes its pandemic travel curbs or individual member states choose to override the rules. EU officials said there is currently no proposal to add the UK to the list of safe nations, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. If a proposal is made, Britain would still have to meet the technical criteria for inclusion. These include epidemiological benchmarks and an assessment of coronavirus containment measures, as well as “economic and social considerations”. Many EU member states do not allow in travellers from countries on the safe list, reflecting the hard battle much of Europe is facing to control coronavirus infection rates. Only 12 of the European nations apply the list in full, while three — Hungary, Croatia and Norway — have not adopted it at all, the commission said. Recommended Coronavirus pandemic London could face tighter Covid restrictions, warns Sadiq Khan 2 HOURS AGO In another sign of the looming concrete impacts of Brexit, Norway — which is part of the EU travel arrangement — has confirmed it will stop British citizens who do not live in the country entering from January 1. Norway, whose biggest export country is the UK, this week signed deals with the UK on healthcare and social security arrangements, as well as a continuity trade deal ahead of a potential full-blown trade agreement. Travellers from Britain could still visit the bloc after December 31 under exemptions including for diplomats, “imperative family reasons” and some “highly qualified third-country workers”. Nationals of the European countries who live in Britain will continue to be allowed in, as will Britons who reside in the EU.

 

[WelshGas]

Perhaps you have misunderstood what is actually happening, from the FT:

https://www.ft.com/content/43a5b078-9102-4972-b5a8-b52a0081fb94

Most Britons will be barred from visiting EU countries from January 1 when pandemic safety rules that allow free travel within the bloc stop applying to the UK. The end of the Brexit transition period means that the UK will be subject to a system that only allows non-essential travel from a handful of non-EU countries with low coronavirus infection rates, the European Commission said. EU member states have shied away from overriding a recommendation to stop the entry of travellers from countries such as the US, which are not on the list of “safe” third nations. Only eight of the countries with very low coronavirus infection rates are on the list. Eighteen EU countries have a higher rate of infection than the UK, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Covid Tracking Project and national health ministries. Britons will only be able to travel to EU countries if the bloc relaxes its pandemic travel curbs or individual member states choose to override the rules. EU officials said there is currently no proposal to add the UK to the list of safe nations, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. If a proposal is made, Britain would still have to meet the technical criteria for inclusion. These include epidemiological benchmarks and an assessment of coronavirus containment measures, as well as “economic and social considerations”. Many EU member states do not allow in travellers from countries on the safe list, reflecting the hard battle much of Europe is facing to control coronavirus infection rates. Only 12 of the European nations apply the list in full, while three — Hungary, Croatia and Norway — have not adopted it at all, the commission said. Recommended Coronavirus pandemic London could face tighter Covid restrictions, warns Sadiq Khan 2 HOURS AGO In another sign of the looming concrete impacts of Brexit, Norway — which is part of the EU travel arrangement — has confirmed it will stop British citizens who do not live in the country entering from January 1. Norway, whose biggest export country is the UK, this week signed deals with the UK on healthcare and social security arrangements, as well as a continuity trade deal ahead of a potential full-blown trade agreement. Travellers from Britain could still visit the bloc after December 31 under exemptions including for diplomats, “imperative family reasons” and some “highly qualified third-country workers”. Nationals of the European countries who live in Britain will continue to be allowed in, as will Britons who reside in the EU.

Seeing as the U.K. is going to be in virtual Lockdown, even if that is not the term used, post the 5 days Christmas Break it makes no difference. In fact I would be very surprised if the whole of Europe is not in a similar position.

 

[Lightning]

Seeing as the U.K. is going to be in virtual Lockdown, even if that is not the term used, post the 5 days Christmas Break it makes no difference. In fact I would be very surprised if the whole of Europe is not in a similar position.

I understand that Tier 1 and Tier 2 in England are still allowed to travel if they let us in. Wales may well be locked down, but much of England is not too bad at the moment.

 

[Lightning]

if you read and believe all that left wing remainer bile in the guardian you don't deserve to go anywhere. you all really think because of us leaving the EU we are all to be imprisoned like a leper colony. ridiculous.
while i'm at it, the 10% import duty on new calis won't matter either because when they're built by Ford in China they will be shite
get over it
these posts need to stop being initiated, all the same moaning all the time
3 cocks please ?

Little ray of sunshine.

 

[flying banana]

At which point we will be limited to 90 days or face a fine and ban and will require expensive private health insurance, 4 months notice for pets and an international driving permit, increased car insurance rates and roaming data surcharges so we can use our terrible exchange rate in the sunshine. I have been unable to identify a single positive outcome for me so far, but I must be missing something.

little ray of sunshine also

 

[bigmac77]

I understand that Tier 1 and Tier 2 in England are still allowed to travel if they let us in. Wales may well be locked down, but much of England is not too bad at the moment.

You can come to Wales from tiers 1 or 2. Stay away from populated areas of the north east and south and you’ll be fine.

 

[WelshGas]

I understand that Tier 1 and Tier 2 in England are still allowed to travel if they let us in. Wales may well be locked down, but much of England is not too bad at the moment.

If you really think that most of England, Scotland Wales and N. Ireland will NOT be in the equivalent of Tier 3 or more, post Christmas break, then you really are living in Cloud Cuckoo Land I'm afraid.

 

[blakeley]

Bet all the Brexiteers are laughing at us leavers now

 

[GrannyJen]

I really can't be the only one, remainer, leaver, visitor from Mars, whoever ....

That is screaming for two things.

One is a return to normalisation in travel arrangements, whether to Spain, Portugal or Oldham, following the disruption caused by Covid ....

The second is we get past January the first, we all know what the deal or no deal is, and we can stop an end to speculation regarding travel with or without Brexit.

Until then, with half the country not allowed outside of it's own front door and with no one having the slightest inking on what is being said behind closed doors in Brussels or London it's time to fill the glass with something splendid, warm up the mince pies, put on some comfy shoes, get nicely mellow and enjoy life the best way we can.

For a large part of the world's population, this year has been crap so chill out and count blessings.

 

[Perfectos]

Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story !

 

[davidgmo]

Excuse the pun, but that might be a red herring.
It’s being argued that Macron is using fishing rights to force a no deal which will be a positive outcome for France and for his re-election.

Interesting how Macron is so obsessed with the French fishing votes and ignoring the wine industry, the cheese industry, and all other manufacturers that will face tariffs on their exports to the UK if he gets his way. Oh... and Merkel is now getting stick in Germany for being an EU purist on standards whilst ignoring the estimated loss of over 100,000 german jobs in the automotive industry (yes including VW) Go figure their rationale for not allowing the UK to have a trade deal with the EU like Canada or Australia etc...

 

[AlisonF]

I really can't be the only one, remainer, leaver, visitor from Mars, whoever ....

That is screaming for two things.

One is a return to normalisation in travel arrangements, whether to Spain, Portugal or Oldham, following the disruption caused by Covid ....

The second is we get past January the first, we all know what the deal or no deal is, and we can stop an end to speculation regarding travel with or without Brexit.

Until then, with half the country not allowed outside of it's own front door and with no one having the slightest inking on what is being said behind closed doors in Brussels or London it's time to fill the glass with something splendid, warm up the mince pies, put on some comfy shoes, get nicely mellow and enjoy life the best way we can.

For a large part of the world's population, this year has been crap so chill out and count blessings.

Slippers are on, wine is poured.
Cheers to you and yours.

 

[Wongo]

Interesting how Macron is so obsessed with the French fishing votes and ignoring the wine industry, the cheese industry, and all other manufacturers that will face tariffs on their exports to the UK if he gets his way. Oh... and Merkel is now getting stick in Germany for being an EU purist on standards whilst ignoring the estimated loss of over 100,000 german jobs in the automotive industry (yes including VW) Go figure their rationale for not allowing the UK to have a trade deal with the EU like Canada or Australia etc...

Australia dies not have a trade deal with tbe EU, just a small set of arrangements, we won’t even have that. Canada/EU deal had to be negotiated line by line and has tariffs.
Geography and volume indicate we need something more, tbe UK/Japan deal has more LPF obligations than any EU/UK deal.

 

[Mickyb123]

So currently the U.K. has restricted travel from yup nearly every EU country due to covid, so why is it such a surprise that the EU or individual EU country would restrict people travelling from a high infection rate region? This is not real news! It’s a sensible approach in a covid infected world

 

[Wogga]

Never been on holiday without health insurance no change there. The UK big four telecoms say they are not planning introducing roaming charges, no change there. Vehicle insurance last time we needed green cards I was never charged any extra no change there. 90 days max, never had that luxury no change there. So no changes then just a longer wait at border control, other than Eurotunnel we have always had a wait. So that's the Guardian in the bin.

 

[Velma's Dad]

So currently the U.K. has restricted travel from yup nearly every EU country due to covid, so why is it such a surprise that the EU or individual EU country would restrict people travelling from a high infection rate region? This is not real news! It’s a sensible approach in a covid infected world

It is real news, in that even though it's a covid-driven measure, it's only coming into force as a result of Brexit. If we were not leaving the EU on 31 Dec, the measure would not apply. Whether or not you or I think that is a good or a bad thing is immaterial - the fact is that on 31 Dec a British resident can still enter France if they wish, but the next day they will be prevented from doing so.

The implication is that for as long as the EU decides to keep the entry ban from 'third countries' in place, it will be impossible for Brits to travel to the Continent (except for the very limited special reasons). That could persist for much of 2021 and the UK Government can do nothing about it. Given the direction of travel of the current negotiations, it seems very likely that political relations between the UK and our neighbours will be soured for quite a while and I wouldn't therefore expect lifting those travel restrictions to be a priority from the EU side.

So that is, I'd suggest, potentially a pretty big deal for the lot of people on this forum, ie campervanners who in many cases holiday on the Continent regularly and were forming tentative plans to do so in 2021.

 

[WelshGas]

As long as there are disparities in Covid-19 infection rates and population Vaccination % between countries there will be travel restrictions. Doesn't matter if the country is a member of the EU or not. They will do there own thing, as they are now.

 

[Wongo]

Just demonstrates the bogus argument about Sovereignty, each country has controlled entry and exit as they saw fit. They coordinated where they could but decided as they needed.

 

[Mickyb123]

Velmas dad.

currently you cannot enter France! or Italy or Spain ! What’s different.
Agree that is changing on 15 Dec certainly for France but in a covid world free travel around Europe is not granted to anyone. Quite rightly so in my opinion.
If you are currently in France you cannot travel to spain.
ifyou are in Italy you cannot travel elsewhere.

 

[Mickyb123]

Anyone planning any international travel in 21 needs to have a bit of a sanity check. Be it by flying or campervan! Anyone that decides to travel overseas to anywhere in the world needs to be aware that borders and travel restrictions in any country! Can change with no notice! Brexit has nothing at all to do with that, and in or out it would make little difference.

 

[Wogga]

Anyone planning any international travel in 21 needs to have a bit of a sanity check. Be it by flying or campervan! Anyone that decides to travel overseas to anywhere in the world needs to be aware that borders and travel restrictions in any country! Can change with no notice! Brexit has nothing at all to do with that, and in or out it would make little difference.

100% every country controls their borders as they see fit. When I was living in Germany, I nipped to Holland one day coming back into Germany I was stopped and couldn't enter because I wasn't displaying a GB sticker, fortunately at the time Norwich Union used send one out with your green card ah I have one with my docs. One happy member of the Bundesgrenzschutz who stoutly did his duty and ensured the law was applied .

 

[Wongo]

Anyone planning any international travel in 21 needs to have a bit of a sanity check. Be it by flying or campervan! Anyone that decides to travel overseas to anywhere in the world needs to be aware that borders and travel restrictions in any country! Can change with no notice! Brexit has nothing at all to do with that, and in or out it would make little difference.

Well if thats the case always, no matter when you travel then.

 

[AndyWT]

Yeah but at least we've got blue passports now.

Don’t blame the EU for the red passport, UK chose it, could have been blue all along.

 

[AndyWT]

Haven’t seen any comment about the 90/180 day rules on here effecting travels in the EU, been quite heated on YouTube.

 

[Mickyb123]

Not sure what you mean wongo! Currently global zombie disease is driving things, that is not the normal! For all the folk who suddenly jumped on planes or into camper vans and went over to the continent this summer deserved all they got when they suddenly found out that when they got back they had to isolate for 14 days, enough people warned that it could happen.
It’s quite likely to continue to be the case well into 2021 as well. So in the current “pandemic” travel anywhere has a risk.
In normal situations, the majority of popular destinations are unlikely to effect travel too much.
I can’t go visit folk in Italy, not because am coming from U.K. it’s because I can’t go from one region in Italy to another, that’s nothing to do with brexit.
For all Nov I couldn’t go to France, but neither could an Italian, or a Spaniard so again nothing to do with brexit.
So if the EU stops U.K. travellers entering EU until we get infection rate down so what? It’s what we have done to most of EU already, and it’s what EU members have already done to other EU members.

People that need to travel can actually do it easily, people that don’t need to travel shouldn’t be travelling anyway.