Life for commuters should be easier again: French regional politicians have spoken out in favor of promptly reopening the closed border crossings to Germany.
The borders have largely been closed since mid-March as a measure to contain the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2. Due to the many closed border crossings, there are still problems for commuters, Brigitte Klinkert, President of the Council of the Alsatian Haut-Rhin bordering Baden-Württemberg, said after a video conference of the Franco-German committee for cross-border cooperation on Thursday of the German press -Agency.
Klinkert advocated the introduction of a common pass for both sides of the border. Currently, French cross-border commuters have to carry several different certificates with them, for example to go to work in Germany, criticized Klinkert.
At certain border crossings, people would have to wait up to three hours, said the President of the Bas-Rhin Departmental Council, Frédéric Bierry. He also called for further crossings to be opened to relieve the vacancies. Bierry advocated that the easing of the coronavirus measures in Alsace be coordinated with those in Germany so that French commuters would not have a disadvantage.
Both departments belong to the Grand Est region in eastern France, which has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic in France. By Wednesday, health officials in the region had killed more than 2,600 people as a result of infection with the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
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