Traveling to and from Europe can be occasionally confusing, particularly with strikes, energy and water shortages, fire risks and increased paperwork stemming from new Brexit regulations, visa rules and the upcoming Entry and Exit Scheme and ETIAS.
For anyone planning to visit this summer, here’s an update on what’s going on in France, particularly if you’re traveling from the U.K.
Environmental Issues—Fire Risks, Water Shortages and Heat Waves
The U.K. already issued its first health alert of the year as temperatures reached above 30 degrees Centigrade (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in the south of England in June. Further south in Europe, many countries hit this temperature in April, with temperatures across Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Algeria hitting August highs—a situation that has been compounded by a historic drought.
France is facing similar environmental challenges with large regions suffering from a lack of rain and the fear of spending another summer fighting monster fires, as it did last summer, in areas where forest fires are not normally an issue. Occasionally, the needs of tourists seemed to be at odds with those of local residents.
When you travel abroad, one of the last things travelers consider if whether there may be enough water upon arrival in the villa or hotel, but it’s increasingly becoming an issue across France. Many regions of France have already put drought restrictions in place so do check with the owners or operators if you’ll be able to have a full pool or use that hot tub upon arrival. There is also a useful map that monitors drought restrictions.
Travelers to France might also notice a difference in how it uses its lights or how fresh it is in restaurants. France recently published its summer energy-saving plan, advising everyone on how to save energy during the hotter months, as it did last winter (when it had a plan to reduce energy consumption by 10%). This was driven in part by the Ukraine war and a need to divest France of Russian energy sources but also because of the country’s plans to reduce its total energy use by 40% by 2050 to meet environmental targets.
It means that businesses shouldn’t put the air conditioning on in shops or restaurants until temperatures hit 26 degrees Celsius and stores must also keep doors closed to keep the cool air inside. Lights will also be switched off across the country, as they were in winter, between 1am and 6am and it will be enforced.
France has launched a new weather map where residents and tourists can assess the risk from forest fires in their area too—visitors would be advised to think of fires when lighting barbecues and cigarettes over the summer period.
French Strikes Appear To Be Over, For Now
France has seen 34 days of strike action since the beginning of the year that has affected 237,000 flights. Whilst strikes obviously affect travelers on the days in question, much of the data shows that strikes don’t have much of a long-term impact on French tourism figures generally.
As all legal battles to stop the new French pension law have failed, the law will come into effect on 1 September 2023, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years of age. The latest strike action was seen by many as a sign that whilst the French public still seems to be against the action in principal, fewer of them are heading into the streets to protest, possibly because with the rising cost of living, they cannot afford to lose the day’s pay.
In the last strikes on 6 June, 25% of flights between the U.K. and France were cancelled by airlines at the request of air traffic controllers who couldn’t run at full capacity. Ryanair, for instance, cancelled 400 flights, many of which were overflights—flights passing across French airspace but not taking off or landing on French runways. However, unions don’t normally mess with the holidays of normal people, so it’s highly unlikely that anymore strikes will be called soon.
However, do remember to take out travel insurance because while domestic flights are protected under French law during strikes, flights traveling through French airspace are not protected for cancellations or rerouting in the same way.
34 Days of U.K. Strike Days Now Averted at Heathrow This Summer
Security staff at Heathrow airport, notably terminals 3 and 5 were expected to strike for a total of 34 days over the summer between June 24 and August 27—including every weekend. Luckily, a pay deal was reached to avert travel chaos, so whilst there are planned rail and medical staff strikes, the airports have been spared.
Brexit Rules For British People Traveling to Europe
The Guardian recently reported that many U.K. travelers are still not aware of Brexit changes to travel rules and that many are being turned away by boarding gate staff as they try to enter Europe on a daily basis.
For anyone traveling on a British passport, ensure that it was not issued more than 10 years before you are due to return, as passengers with passports more than 10 years old will not be allowed entry into the EU.
It is also vital to ensure that a passport has more than three months of validity on it or passengers will not be able to enter any of the 27 EU or a Schengen-area country (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican and Switzerland).
It might also raise a red-flag if your passport is near expiry and there is no return journey scheduled. For instance, if you live in Europe but are traveling on a British passport and don’t need a return journey back to the U.K. booked, the airline might see this as a red flag and deny boarding in this instance too.
Non-EU nationals including Americans, Canadians, Australian and the British cannot stay longer than 90 days out of 180 in any EU country and this 90-day clock also continues if a passport is renewed or reissued (passports might also be scanned and not just stamped upon entering and leaving the EU, so longer stays than legally allowed could be uncovered).
There is a useful calculator here to add up the legality of multiple short stays in the EU. Remember, visa rules are slightly different in Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania and completely different for Ireland.
An Update On The EES And ETIAS Entry Schemes
There is a new automated European Entry and Exit Scheme (EES) coming into effect that will scan biometric data for all arrivals and departures into a Schengen country —but it isn’t currently in use and its rollout has been delayed. It will likely come into effect after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The EU is also bringing in its own pre-authorization to travel scheme, similar to the U.S. ESTA. (The U.K is also planning its own scheme). For EU countries, it will be called ETIAS and in a similar way to the ESTA, travelers will have to register to receive the right to travel to an EU country for €7 and it will be valid for 2 years.
The good news for travelers, for this summer at least, is that this additional piece of required paperwork has also been delayed to 2024.
Source: Forbes
