Germany and France have agreed to open their common borders by 15 June 2020. After receiving the news, Switzerland has also announced that some of their borders will be opening with neighboring countries on the same date.
The German Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer and French Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner reached an agreement that will allow for the reopening of shared borders between the two Schengen Member States, according to a press release published by the French Federal Government. The reopening of borders will be a gradual and coordinated process between French and German law enforcement.
“By June 15, the two ministers, anxious to facilitate the daily life of cross-border workers, have agreed on the principle of continuing the coordinated and gradual opening of border crossing points. The permanent static checks carried out so far by French and German law enforcement will gradually give way to dynamic and targeted checks, to ensure traffic flow without weakening the restrictions which will remain in force,” the press release reads.
Crossing the Franco-German border after the relaxing of border checks will require less paperwork and documentation and will only require a single Franco-German certificate.
Germany has also talked of relaxing its border control measures with Denmark, however, there has not been an official date released. The border checks between Germany and Luxembourg are scheduled to end on 15 May.
According to a press release published by the Swiss Government, they have decided to open their borders with Germany, Austria, and France on 15 June as well.
“Over the past few days, Federal Councilor Keller-Sutter has discussed a further move to relax measures in several telephone conversations with the interior ministers of Germany, France and Austria, Horst Seehofer, Christophe Castaner and Karl Nehammer. All three countries, like Switzerland, are currently in a transitional phase and in a comparable epidemiological situation,” the press release reads.
This, of course, takes into consideration that the epidemiological situation allows for the action to take place.
“Any move to relax measures is, of course, dependent on continued improvements in the epidemiological situation. This, in turn, depends on the population continuing to comply fully with the rules on hygiene and social distancing,” the press release reads.
The reopening of Swiss borders will allow people to freely travel across them. On 29 April, the Swiss Federal Council had decided to implement the relaxation of border checks, and the first measures went into effect on 11 May.
