Press Release - Health measures reinforced at the France-Germany border in the Moselle department (25 Feb. 2021)

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Given the health situation in Moselle, and driven by a concern to protect as widely as possible everyday life in the cross-border region, over the past few days the French Government has conducted close consultations at the highest level with its German partners. On both sides of the border, we share the goal of preserving free movement, and enabling cross-border workers to continue their professional activity.

To better factor in the health situation in Moselle, we will be implementing the following measures for this department as of 1 March:

  • Exemptions from the obligation to present a PCR test taken within the 72 hours preceding entry to France will be limited to professional activities exclusively. Cross-border residents travelling for reasons other than professional reasons must therefore present a negative PCR test at the border;
  • Cross-border workers are strongly advised to work from home;
  • An iterative test strategy will be implemented for workers crossing the border for their professional activities, in the form of a weekly test.

Joint patrols by the French and German police may be strengthened in the region in order to ensure that these measures are effective.
These measures are in addition to those already rolled out by the authorities in the Moselle region. Testing and screening capacities have been heavily increased (more than 60,000 tests were carried out last week) in order to curb the spread of the virus and identify the spread of the variants more efficiently. The close contact tracing and self-isolation strategy has also been reinforced (it is now mandatory to self-isolate for 10 days, instead of 7, and this measure will be subsequently extended to all of France) and the vaccination campaign has been sped up, with an additional 30,000 doses allocated to the department. Checks on compliance with these rules will be enhanced.

The Government continues to monitor the health situation in the region extremely closely and is in regular contact with the German authorities.


Press contacts:
Ministry for Solidarity and Health
sec.presse.solidarites-sante at sante.gouv.fr
Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 56 60 60

Minister of State for European Affairs
secretariat-cheid.dga at diplomatie.gouv.fr
Tel.: +33 (0)1 43 17 55 76