FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - COVID Restrictions to entry in France
View Single Post
Old Oct 30, 2020 | 8:20 am
  #20  
NickB
FlyerTalk Evangelist
All eyes on you!
25 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,841
Originally Posted by Goldorak
So, if I follow you, you would see a logic of not being allowed to go more than 1 km away from your home but being allowed to travel to another EU country ?
Yes, I can: the responsibility of the French government to take appropriate measure to prevent the spread of the virus within France. It is not the responsibility of the French government to take measures to prevent the spread of the virus in, say, Ireland. That responsibility befalls on the Irish government and the Irish government decides what measures are appropriate to prevent the spread of the virus on its territory. If I travel abroad, I do not create a risk for spreading the virus in France and, therefore, there is no public health justification that the French authorities could invoke to restrict my movement. The country I am going to can take measures to manage the risk that I create. They could, for instance, decide not to allow me on their territory altogether, put me in quarantine, etc.. but it is for them to decide as the risk I create in on their territory, not the French territory.

FWIW, there is caselaw of the ECJ (regarding the free movement of services but there is no reason not to apply it to the free movement of persons) to the effect that it is not the responsibility of a Member State to look after the interests of other MS and their population and use that as a reason to restrict free movement from its territory to that of another Member State. It is for the Member State of destination to decide what measures are needed, if any, to protect its own population.

Last edited by NickB; Oct 30, 2020 at 8:26 am
NickB is offline