French consulates abroad are under extreme pressures from local French citizens.
The French consulates in Hong Kong, as well as Singapore, updated their website immediately (13 March). I could not see it in New York or LAX.

I’m not conjecturing about why- that is largely irrelevant as it is their obligation to provide updated information. The Prefecture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the webmaster and his sister will likely say the same thing.
My point is that the distribution of clear and consistent information is severely lacking.

Adding to the thread my experience after an illegal holiday.

Left the EU via ZRH going to the Maldives.

Only my traveling companion travelled to France, I went to Spain, and has this profile:
EU national, medical doctor in France.
Check-in agent at Malé asked for the French document which had the following professional reason: Health or research professional involved in the fight against Covid 19 :rolleyes: Could've ticked anything as the agent only looked for 2 seconds and it did not matter.

To get the boarding pass, manual override by supervisor was needed as the system had special policies for travels to the USSR France. However, this was quickly done and no questions as to why going to France or any alike nuisance.

I've been told that the DOH-CDG segment had plenty of "essential" sun-kissed travellers.

At CDG, PAF agent asked: Where do you live - France / why did u leave? Holidays - with a big non-chalant smile / Why travel back to France? My patients need me :).

Never a dull day with the French admin. There's no hassle to travel back to France as check-in agents abroad don't care and the PAF has nothing to say. I feel sorry for those who cancelled their holidays.

Best.

What is the impact of the new four-week lockdown in Ile de France, Hauts de France, etc. on trips even to the EEA?

If I understand correctly, someone who lives in Reims can go to CDG and fly to Madrid, Munich or Milan. Someone living in Paris can only do that with a "motif impérieux". Questions are how this will work:

• Will the airline check whether someone lives in Reims or Paris?
• What about foreign nationals residing in Paris? Will waving a German passport give me a "free ride", by simply arguing that I am going back to my home country? Bit unfair for those that do not have a second passport and are "only" French, but isn't Covid unfair anyway?
• There could be checks on the streets in Paris or on the airport access roads, but that's where people can tell their stories: the Paris resident will say that he is in transit from somewhere outside the lockdown zone/show the EDF bill from his holiday home/and that the taxi that transports him gets him from the Gare de l'Est to the airport; people with a foreign passport will just say they're going back to their country, etc.

Just trying to figure out to what extent last night's announcement will disrupt intra-EU travel over Easter and upcoming vacation time.

That's my understanding too. Pretty sure we'll have to wait for data points from fellow FTers to see how it all pans out.

All your questions have, as far as I can tell, not been addressed by official statements yet. What's left of domestic air travel was probably not the core of yesterday's discussions anyway.

To me, it does not change anything if you're travelling abroad.
There is no need for Motif Imperieux to travel in most of european countries.
The only controls might be between downtown Paris and CDG and I assume that an attestation to prove that you have a flight might be enough. And then, I don't expect any control in 2F.

I am travelling to BCN next tuesday, will report it ;)

Well.... the PM last night said that "déplacements inter-régionaux" will only work with motif impérieux. The train/plane ticket waiver works only now to move around after the 6pm curfew. But is it a waiver to leave your region? Don't think so. Otherwise people would just continue taking their Friday evening flight to their holiday home in the South - which is exactly what the government wants to prevent from happening.

But please, do tell us about your experience traveling to BCN.

What was it before?
Sorry but there have been so many iterations of this policy I have lost track...👹
I believe it was just spot checks anywhere. If it’s at the airport then that’s a different animal.
If in addition to the checks to enter the airport we will also have another line of police checking attestations (and to the “temporary” PAF re-entry posts that have been in place for 6 years)...I think we will have reached top oppression.
I am supposed to travel in 10 days within the EU... will report back.

During the first two national lockdowns, there was a "dry feet" policy for international travel. While you could be fined from your home to the airport, agents at international airports would let you leave the country if you made it there.

At the time, what was forbidden was leaving your home, not traveling abroad. The current situation is different.

We are now under an international travel ban plus, for the happy 21M ppl under the third lockdown, a regional travel ban. I doubt they would let anyone who shows up at check-in in CDG leave without a "motif impérieux".

I clearly doubt it

Let's say, a person living in Tours wants to spend one week holidays in BCN (everything is fine for him as there is no restriction).
He is able to drive to CDG with an attestation that specifies that he has a flight from CDG.

The question we have here is for people living in Paris.

Which means that check-in agent would need to check where passengers are living to check whether or not they could fly ? What about pax that do their check-in online before arriving at the airport and that do not go to counters ?
There is no passport check, no immigration, no controls (except security) in 2F so I have no idea how they could check whether or not you are allowed to travel

That was my understanding as well.

If it is the case that we will need a “motif impérieux” I think they will effectively need to revisit the name of the country. Perhaps RRF? Repressive French Republic?
Or RPF? Proclamatory Republic of France?

And what if our hypothetical travellers are living in France but with a German passport? Or US citizen with french residency? ;)

Joke aside, I agree with you. I don't see *how* these travel restrictions could be enforced in CDG 2F. But again, all current travel shenanigans were unexpected even 1 year ago... I guess the actual implementation will depend on how important the government thinks travel is these days.
Political communication about travel was done a few weeks ago, maybe they'll just let it go now. Though I doubt that "traveling to BCN" is a valid reason to leave home if you live in Paris, wherever you are controlled.

Enforcement is bound to be leaky but that does not mean that they cannot do spot checks and send some people home.Not fundamentally different to doing spot checks in a train station.

Or simply make you pay the 135 € "exit tax" as was done before :rolleyes:

presumably both?