EU transport boss criticises France found on UK truck delays
The EU transport commissioner warned Thursday that 10,000 European truckers were struggling to come back from Britain and criticised France for imposing coronavirus restrictions on them.
More than a few countries around Europe and the world imposed bans over travel from the united kingdom this week after the discovery of a fresh strain of the virus.
“We issued a communication appealing for proportional, non-discriminatory steps and the lift of any restrictions for transport staff,” Adina Valean said.
“I deplore that France went against our suggestions,” she tweeted.
But France’s minister for European Affairs, Clement Beaune, denied this, responding angrily in a tweet replying to a British journalist.
“We have accurately followed the EU recommendation (beginning with tests) and are now more available than other Europe, having worked jointly with the united kingdom authorities upon this protocol.”
France’s decision to restrict site visitors has had the most impression, with trains and ferries across the Channel halted for 48-hours huge freight site visitors jams developed in southeast England.
“Around 10,000 vehicle drivers would like to reunite in the EU. Different thousands already are in the Dover location in their cars,” Valean, the European commissioner for transport, said.
“We worked hard nowadays to unblock a crisis between two Europe, France and the united kingdom,” she stated. “I am pleased that, currently, we've trucks slowly crossing the Channel.”
On Tuesday, the European Commission advised member says should drop the blanket ban, and France decided to allow in motorists if indeed they had negative Covid-19 tests.
But Brussels had suggested exempting transfer personnel from this restriction.
“And I want to thank the united kingdom authorities that they started tests the motorists at a potential of 300 tests each hour,” Valean said.
And she compared the problem to the breakdown in coordination between European capitals in March that hampered early on efforts to contain the virus “when the source chains were interrupted.”
