archie159

Hi, has anyone driven to/from UK/Germany recently (ie in the past few weeks, up to a month perhaps)? My wife (German passport, permanently settled in the UK) might need to do a dash across to deal with a family medical emergency - I'm aware of the covid rules regarding PCR testing before catching a ferry etc, but not sure how it works if you wish to disembark at Calais (or Dunkirk) and then drive straight through to Germany (via Belgium and Holland). Are there any rules stopping us doing that?
Driving would be more convenient than flying, but not if she'll be forced to quarantine at each border!
Thanks.

dmu

She'll definitely be forced to quarantine upon arrival in Germany. DD1 had to do this after spending Christmas/NY in France and was only able to resume work after a negative Covid-test a week later. The period of quarantine might have increased since then (she couldn't come at Easter because of it) and the general rules might be stricter, in that movement between Länder is restricted. Some one actually living in Germany will confirm.... Where will she be driving to?
As for the French side, any travel further than 30 km from one's domicile must be justified in an Attestation, but in your wife's case, she would sign an International Attestation (downloaded from the French Govt. site) before arriving at a French port, ticking on "compelling family reasons".
HTH

calman014

Driving through Belgium and Netherlands should also be no problem as long as there is the correct paperwork to support it.
Being Schengen, the borders are open for such cases. There are links on both sites.

Instructions for Germany are also on the relevant site.

BELGIUM:

https://www.belgium.be/de/aktuelles/...der_osterpause

NETHERLANDS:

https://www.niederlandeweltweit.nl

GERMANY

https://www.einreiseanmeldung.de/#/

archie159

Thanks. Actually, this will shortly be no longer correct, as Germany recently removed the UK from its quarantine list. All the countries are changing their rules regularly, hence why I was asking about anyone who has done this recently.

I agree Belgium and the NL should be OK, as they do make it completely clear that people in transit don't have to quarantine. At the moment the only country I am still unsure about is France, as (unlike the others) they don't seem to explicitly state that drivers passing through are not required to quarantine etc, though that would seem to be logical. The attestation you mention does require one to promise to quarantine, hence my question!

Thanks again. Any other recent experiences welcome!

calman014

It’s EU wide.

dmu

You're right, they don't! You're highly recommended to, and you undertake to do so, but there isn't an enforced Rule. Since she'll be driving via Belgium, your wife wouldn't be in France for very long (although she'd still need the Attestation)....
And France is considered by Germany as a hotspot, involving quarantine and a Covid-test upon arrival.

archie159

Aagghh... I hadn't thought of that. Do you mean that even if you don't step outside your car, and are only in France for about 30 minutes and 50km, you still have to quarantine in Germany? I know that the UK used to make it clear (on the .gov.uk covid pages) that if you only drove through a country and did not stop then you were not required to follow any rules applicable to that country - I had assumed that the same would apply in this instance on arrival in Germany, but you think not?

dmu

But there's no France/Germany border if you're passing through Belgium and the Netherlands. I've no idea whether the fact of having briefly passed through France will have any impact on anything. To avoid any risk of problems, and depending on where she'll be travelling from and to, couldn't your wife go to a Belgian/Dutch port and miss out France completely?

Assanah

The Netherlands is considered to be a high risk area same as France.

Btw did you also check what she needs to do on her way back? Hopefully there will be no closed borders 🤞🤞

archie159

Re coming back - tests, home quarantine and more tests are required, from all those countries, which we have factored into the plan already.
Ferries over - there are very few options for skipping France (Newcastle and Harwich), but they add a lot of extra driving in the UK and much longer (& more expensive) crossings also. A backup, perhaps, but not ideal.
Reading the rules in Germany, I think it might come down to the interpretation of the definition of "stayed" ("aufgehalten"), which is what triggers the need for quarantine - and also that it is up to each State to make their own definition. If I were interpreting the rules then I would think that my wife won't stay in France, Belgium or NL (she won't even step out of the car!), and so won't need to quarantine, but I guess others may interpret it differently. I've found the email address for the local gesundheitsamt. so I think a question to them will be required.
Thanks again for all the comments.

calman014

Germany is in the process of nationalizing the lockdown procedures, so it's likely to become even more strict the coming time.
A genuine emergency should be no problem, but then there is the risk of being stopped from proceeding any further if traveling by Car.
This is unlikely to change at least until end of May.
It would probably be best to fly direct to Germany with appropriate supporting documentation and expecting to quarantine there.

scrubbedexpat0105

I would read "Aufenthaltsort" in this context as "place where you are staying".

If you look at www.einreiseanmeldung.de/#/, you'll see that's the sense in which "Aufenthaltsort" is used with respect to reporting your entry into Germany:

Damit die zuständige Behörde die Einhaltung der Quarantäne wie auch die Voraussetzungen der landesrechtlichen Ausnahmen von der Quarantänepflicht kontrollieren kann, müssen Sie eine digitale Einreiseanmeldung ausfüllen. Ihre Reise- und Kontaktdaten werden an die für Ihren Aufenthaltsort zuständige Behörde weitergeleitet, die sich dann mit Ihnen in Verbindung setzen kann.

In fact there's a saying in German, "Reisende sollte man nicht aufhalten."

Another point of confusion is the dreaded "grundsätzlich":

Wenn Sie aus dem Ausland nach Deutschland einreisen und sich innerhalb der letzten 10 Tage vor der Einreise in einem Risikogebiet oder in einem Hochinzidenzgebiet aufgehalten haben, sind Sie grundsätzlich verpflichtet, sich für 10 Tage nach Einreise in Quarantäne zu begeben.

This is perhaps dmu's reason for saying "She'll definitely be forced to quarantine upon arrival in Germany.". I contacted my local Corona hotline and they told me this wasn't the case: I only needed to go into quarantine (in my case, upon returning from Hungary = Risikogebiet) if I didn't test negative after entering Germany, which however I did. (It goes without saying that it has to be a formally documented test.)

This was for NRW. The relevant rule for NRW is here:

http:///www.land.nrw/de/wichtige-fra...virus#70088aff

Für Einreisende nach Nordrhein-Westfalen aus allen übrigen vom Robert Koch-Institut aufgelisteten Risiko- und Hochinzidenzgebieten (ausgenommen die Virusvarianten-Gebiete) gibt es eine Quarantänepflicht nur dann, wenn sie entgegen der Verpflichtung nach Bundesrecht keine Einreisetestung haben vornehmen lassen. Die Einreisetestung ist durch eine Schnell- oder PCR-Testung binnen maximal 48 Stunden vor der Einreise oder unmittelbar nach der Einreise zu erfüllen. Reisende aus einem Hochinzidenzgebiet haben nach der Einreiseverordnung des Bundes bereits zum Zeitpunkt der Einreise ein negatives Testergebnis vorzuweisen. Eine mangels Einreisetestung zunächst einzuhaltende Quarantäne kann jederzeit durch einen negativen Test beendet werden.

Based upon that, I'd read it that the "grundsätzlich" is the basic rule but may be overruled by the state rule, and the relevant state is that in which the traveller is staying at the end of their journey.

The text quoted above is all from today. It may of course change, and it's only an excerpt: you need to read the whole thing to see all the exemptions etc.

Assanah

Yes, grundsätzlich in the common speech means that's the rule, no exception. Grundsätzlich in the legal sense means that is the rule but there are exceptions.

Grundsätzlich is always good for confusion.

archie159

Thanks all. In the end we decided that it's easiest for her to fly. Irritating, as it take almost as long, door to door, to get there by air as to drive (due to the very, very few UK/DE flights, and the consequent need to travel onwards half way across Germany by train) - and was a LOT more expensive. Today, at least, people travelling from the UK no longer need to quarantine on arrival. Thanks for all the input.

calman014

Germany has just added UK to the "threat list' so UK residents not allowed in except for emergency travel (quarantine still required!).