FRANCE HAS REOPENED ITS BORDERS TO CANADIAN TRAVELLERS

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On June 30, France and the other Member States of the European Union adopted a recommendation on the reopening of Europe's external borders from July 1, 2020, to a first list of fourteen countries, including Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand, as well as China, subject to reciprocity. This list will be reviewed every two weeks.

In view of the satisfactory epidemiological evolution on European territory, new measures have been adopted following the decisions taken on June 15 with regard to the reopening of European borders (Schengen area) and the opening of borders to international visitors after July 1.

The first countries eligible for this reopening are: Australia, Canada, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand, Uruguay, three North African States (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia), two Eastern European States (Montenegro, Serbia) and Georgia.

The United States, Russia, Israel, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are, at this stage, excluded from this list, as the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic is considered to be more serious there than in Europe. The reopening of borders with China is moreover suspended on the principle of reciprocity (China has not yet reopened its borders to European travellers).

As a reminder, the internal borders of the European Union - Schengen area reopened June 15 (and Spain’s on June 21). All health and security measures are being taken on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the border restrictions are lifted in the best possible conditions.

However, the British government (the United Kingdom being, in the post-Brexit transition period, still considered as an EU Member State) has decided to impose since June 8 a 2-week period quarantine on foreign travellers, therefore France is applying the rule of reciprocity until further notice. However, the 2-week period quarantine measure should evolve in the near-future.

France was visited by 1.2 million Canadians in 2018. Caroline Leboucher, Atout France CEO, said: "We are delighted to be able to welcome tourists from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Thailand or Canada to France once again and are awaiting confirmation regarding China. All the tourism professionals have been working over the last few months so that we can enable them to (re)discover French destinations in the best possible conditions, particularly in terms of health security. ‘’

More information on reopening and sanitary precaution’s in France can be found on France.fr.

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Contact

Marie-Andrée Boucher
Atout France Canada
1800 McGill College
Montreal, QC H3A3J6
Canada
514 288 2026