Germany wants Brits to quarantine on any EU holidays even if double vaccinated - Metro.co.uk

German chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for the Europe-wide rule with the backing of France (Picture: Getty/PA/EPA)

Germany and France will today attempt to introduce a mandatory two-week quarantine for all British tourists travelling to the EU.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron have relaunched a bid to enforce a Europe-wide rule for UK residents travelling to any country in the bloc.

Under the proposed plans, even fully vaccinated holidaymakers would be forced to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.

Ms Merkel is pushing to designate the UK as a ‘country of concern’ amid rising cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant, which has spread across the entire country.

However, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Malta are said to be set on defying a blanket rule and implementing their own border policies, reported The Times.

From Thursday, the only European destinations on the UK Government’s ‘green list’ will be Malta, Gibraltar, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

The Balearic Islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca, along with the Portuguese islands of Madeira, have been added to the ‘green watch list’.

This means that if the data changes and infection rates go up, they could be swiftly moved to the amber category.

Germany says the decision is based on rising Covid cases – but some believe it’s more political (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

Boris Johnson is set to attempt to persuade Ms Merkel to back down on Friday (Picture: PA)

Several countries have already imposed their own policies, with Portugal introducing a 14-day quarantine period for unvaccinated UK tourists arriving on the mainland.

From today, Brits must show they were fully vaccinated at least a fortnight ago in order to avoid self-isolating. The new rules will last until at least July 11.

Meanwhile, just hours after Malta was added to the green list, it announced a fortnight-long quarantine for UK holidaymakers who haven’t received the jab.

A British Government source told The Times that Ms Merkel is looking ‘increasingly isolated’ in her Europe-wide bid, adding: ‘A lot of countries will think it’s their own decision and not one to be decided in Berlin.’ 

Boris Johnson is set to meet Ms Merkel at Chequers, his Buckinghamshire country residence, on Friday in the hopes of persuading her to back down.

The Balearic Islands, including popular holiday hotspot Ibiza, are one of the destinations on the UK’s green list (Picture: Getty)

Under France and Germany’s plans, even vaccinated Brits would have to quarantine (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

A No 10 spokesman said the two leaders will discuss ‘deepening the UK-German relationship and the global response to the coronavirus pandemic’. 

Conservative chairman of the Future Aviation Group Henry Smith, believes Germany and France’s efforts are ‘more of a political effort’ and less based on Covid data.

He told The Telegraph: ‘I think the EU probably sees trying to shut Britain out of international travel as being a competitive advantage to themselves, but I think that’s quite short sighted.

‘Good luck getting the Spanish Greeks and Portuguese to agree to that, because I think they will rightly look at the imperatives for their economy.’ 

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMid2h0dHBzOi8vbWV0cm8uY28udWsvMjAyMS8wNi8yOC9nZXJtYW55LXdhbnRzLWJyaXRzLXRvLXF1YXJhbnRpbmUtb24tYW55LWV1LWhvbGlkYXlzLWV2ZW4taWYtZG91YmxlLXZhY2NpbmF0ZWQtMTQ4MzY3NjQv0gF7aHR0cHM6Ly9tZXRyby5jby51ay8yMDIxLzA2LzI4L2dlcm1hbnktd2FudHMtYnJpdHMtdG8tcXVhcmFudGluZS1vbi1hbnktZXUtaG9saWRheXMtZXZlbi1pZi1kb3VibGUtdmFjY2luYXRlZC0xNDgzNjc2NC9hbXAv?oc=5

2021-06-28 06:20:00Z
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