Angela Merkel starts her bid today to BAN British holidaymakers from the EU whether they have had Covid jab or not - as Portugal brings in 14-day quarantine for any unvaccinated Brits

 

• Germany's Angela Merkel wants all Britons to quarantine when visiting the EU 
• Plan has received France's backing but Spain is adamant to set its border policy
• German Chancellor wants Britain made 'country of concern' over Delta variant
• Boris Johnson will meet Merkel at Chequers on Friday in an attempt to persuade her to back down
• Spain, Greece, Portugal and Malta set to defy restrictions to save their large tourism economies

 

Germany will today attempt to ban British travellers from the EU regardless of whether or not they have had a Covid-19 vaccine.

 

Angela Merkel, the country's Chancellor, is pushing for the divisive move to designate Britain as a 'country of concern' because of the high number of Delta variant cases.

 

French President Emmanuel Macron has given his backing for the proposal but several Mediterranean countries are expected to resist any such restrictions. 

 

Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal could defy an EU-wide ban in a bid to protect their large tourism economies, with Spain also adamant on setting its own border policy. 

 

Malta and the Spanish Balearic Islands will go on to the UK 'green list' from Wednesday with flight costs rocketing as thousands of Britons pick the destinations for their summer getaways. 

 

Britain remains ahead of France and Germany in the race to vaccinate its entire adult population

 

Germany wants the UK to be made a 'country of concern' because of a rise in cases of the Delta variant, originally detected in India. The surge in the new variant has not translated in to  the same numbers of hospitalisations and deaths as in previous waves

 

Portugal on the other hand, having been removed from the 'green list' over variant concerns, has now enforced a mandatory quarantine on unvaccinated Britons travelling to the mainland, although the popular tourist island of Madeira is on the 'green list'.

 

Malta likewise will require UK visitors who are not fully vaccinated to quarantine on arrival from June 30.

 

But the idea of a blanket quarantine for all UK arrivals in to the EU has created frustration for some of the bloc's countries.

 

Boris Johnson is set to meet Ms Merkel at his Chequers country residence on Friday with the hope of persuading her to back down.

 

A No 10 spokesman said the pair will discuss 'deepening the UK-German relationship and the global response to the coronavirus pandemic'. 

 

The outgoing Chancellor's position has however been described as 'increasingly isolated' by government sources. One told The Times: 'A lot of countries will think it's their own decision and not one to be decided in Berlin.'

 

Portugal, having been removed from the 'green list' over variant concerns, has now enforced a mandatory quarantine on unvaccinated Britons travelling to the mainland. The Portuguese island of Madeira is on the 'green list'

 

Henry Smith, Conservative chairman of the Future Aviation Group, called France and Germany's push 'more of a political effort' than a demand based on Covid-19 data.

 

'I think the EU probably sees trying to shut Britain out of international travel as being a competitive advantage to themselves, but I think that's quite short sighted,' he told The Telegraph.

 

'Good luck getting the Spanish, Greeks and Portuguese to agree to that, because I think they will rightly look at the imperatives for their economy.' 

 

If the move is agreed by the EU it would negate Mr Johnson's plan to allow double-vaccinated Britons to go to amber-list countries without quarantining on return.

 

The scheme could come in in August, after the Prime Minister hopes for international travel to restart on July 19.

 

 

Read More Here: Daily Mail