While Article 2, which provided for the possibility of reintroducing the obligation to present a negative test for travelers from overseas territories, was deleted during consideration in the National Assembly, the Senate reintroduced it at first reading. An agreement was then reached on the same version of the draft law.
Congressmen and senators finally reached an agreement. They met in a joint parliamentary committee on Thursday 21 July and adopted a final text. If this lifts the health emergency, it will restore the ability to require a negative test at borders. This applies to travelers aged 12 and over from abroad, but also from overseas. The Senate passed the health law in the first reading on Wednesday night after reinserting the possibility of resorting to health checks on travelers, which had been removed by the National Assembly.
The measure applies from August 1 and until January 31, 2023 in the event of the spread of a variant considered to be of concern. The presidents of overseas communities would be consulted “before any use of the device,” the text says. You can also request the system to be suspended once the crisis has subsided.
The change had been proposed by Mayotte Senator Thani Mohamed Soilihi, who relied on the proliferation of variants in the past to draft it:
Experience with Beta variants coming in from South Africa via Mayotte and Delta variants coming in from Brazil via Guyana has shown that a regional geographic approach to risk is needed in relation to our overseas territories located near and/or have continuous exchanges with geographical areas different from those of mainland France or even other overseas territories.
Following this logic, the Mahoran senator therefore considered it necessary to extend the control system to overseas territories, and not just to travelers from abroad, in order to counteract the spread of variants “which are likely to pose a serious threat to health”.
After voting for this change, Reunion Senator Nassimah Dindar wanted to “pacify” the Reunionese. “We will not ask that you have the vaccine, it is no longer mandatory,” she recalled this Friday on Réunion la 1ère. But if there is a crisis that could overwhelm hospitals, you will be asked to test negative to leave Reunion, as those returning will be asked to provide a negative test.
Among the senators who voted against, Victorin Lurel, a senator from Guadeloupe, was strongly opposed to the proposal. “We’re creating some kind of virtual border, which I don’t understand,” he told the Senate. In a press release published on July 20, he stated that he favored a “travel health certificate” allowing travel to the overseas territories, and in the amendment put to the vote denounced a “double barrier (…) which arouses intolerable suspicions from travelers.” Overseas”.
Senators from Guyana and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Georges Patient and Stéphane Artano, also voted against.
Regarding nurses who are suspended for not vaccinating and who number around 12,000 in France according to the health ministry, the rewritten text paved the way for possible reinstatement and gave the green light from health authorities. But this Friday, July 22, the government finally announced that it opposes it, following the recommendations of the High Authority for Health published on the same day.
The health bill thus rewritten will go to the vote again in the National Assembly on Monday, where it was due to be finally adopted without incident ahead of a final session of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Tuesday, July 26.