Macron warned desperate bid to ban UK tourists and 'punish' Brexit Britain will backfire
EMMANUEL Macron has been warned his obsession with imposing stringent bloc-wide coronavirus restrictions risks devastating the tourism industries in numerous EU countries, some of which has seen visitor numbers plummet by as much as 90 percent.
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Mr Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel want other members of the EU27 to follow their lead in requiring all UK visitors to their countries to quarantine for ten days, citing concerns over the prevalence of the Delta variant. However, critics argue such a policy effectively bans UK visitors from the continent, and a report published by pro-Brexit think tank Facts4EU warns Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel they are flirting with disaster.
Facts4EU used the bloc’s latest figures relating to its tourism industry in the course of its analysis.
The statistics showed that the number of nights spent at EU tourist accommodation establishments by foreign visitors dropped by 79.7 percent between April 2020 and March 2021, compared with the previous 12 months - equivalent to 1.05 billion fewer nights.
Among the EU member states with available data, the highest decreases were recorded in Spain (-90 percent), Romania (-89 percent), Hungary and Finland (both -88 percent), Czech Republic (-87 percent), Malta (-85 percent), and Portugal (-84 percent).
Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, and Ireland all failed to provide figures to the EU Commission, so were not included in Facts4EU’s analysis.
Facts4EU spokesman Leigh Evans said: “With another EU meeting scheduled in Brussels for this week, it seems that Chancellor Merkel and President Macron have not given up on their fight to impose the most stringent EU-wide conditions on British holiday-makers this summer.
“They failed in this attempt at the EU summit last week, but are reported to be continuing to pressure other EU member states to prevent holiday-makers from Brexit Britain from visiting any EU country this season.”
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Mr Evans added: “With foreign visitors down 80 percent, and with some EU countries heavily reliant on tourism as a significant part of their economies, it must be asked just how far some EU leaders are prepared to go in their attempts to punish the British people for voting to leave the EU empire.
“Daily deaths in the UK in any way related to Covid continue to be well below those seen in the EU.
“Yesterday, just 11 deaths were reported across the UK ‘with Covid’.
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“This is only 0.66 percent of the average number of daily deaths (1657) from all causes.
“The EU’s rate is equally small, but is nevertheless three times that of the United Kingdom.”
Britons entering Germany are currently required to quarantine for 14-days, and those entering France who are not fully vaccinated must isolate for seven days and take necessary tests.Speaking on Thursday, Mrs Merkel said: “In our country, if you come from Great Britain, you have to go into quarantine.
“And that’s not the case in every European country, and that is what I would like to see.”
Mr Macron wants what he calls a “harmonised” response and argues that restrictions would be the cornerstone of the EU’s so-called “green pass” coronavirus vaccine passport.
Speaking earlier this week he said: “We must remain vigilant on this point, on the necessary co-ordination.
“This co-ordination also requires that our rules harmonise on the matter of opening to non-EU countries. It’s the key for the European green pass.
“We are perfectly aligned with Angela Merkel.
“Vigilance with the emergence of this new variant, and of an absolutely indispensable European co-ordination.”
Mrs Merkel wants the EU to bring in a 14-day mandatory quarantine on everyone heading from the UK to EU.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to ask her to think again when she visits him at Chequers on Friday.