PARIS
\nBritons who live in the European Union can no longer drive through France to their homes elsewhere in the bloc under new regulations that have created confusion for many holiday travelers.
\nMany Britons take the Channel Tunnel from England to France, using Eurotunnel\u2019s Shuttle service, to drive from the UK to their homes in other EU countries.
\nBut under new Covid travel rules being applied since December 28 by French authorities, only Britons whose official primary residence is in France are being allowed in.
\n\u201cUnless they hold French residency, British citizens are now considered third country citizens and can no longer transit France by road to reach their country of residence in the EU,\u201d Eurotunnel said in a tweet late Wednesday.
\nP&O Ferries issued a similar tweet warning that \u201conly those with French residency will be permitted to enter France.\u201d
\nA French interior ministry official said it had not changed its list of \u201ccompelling\u201d reasons enabling Britons to travel to France, but had clarified their application this month by border police.
\n\u201cIt seems logical to consider them like all other third-country citizens, and to not allow their transit toward another EU country,\u201d the official told AFP, asking not to be identified by name.
\nAll tourism and professional travel from Britain has been suspended since December 18 as France tries to slow the spread of the omicron Covid variant.
\nOn its travel advice website, the British government said France had indicated that Britons would not be allowed to transit France \u201cunless they are traveling by air.\u201d
\n\u201cWe are urgently seeking further clarification from the French government, and in the meantime advise UK nationals returning to other European countries via France to check with their carrier before traveling,\u201d it said.
\nThe change caught hundreds of Britons off guard as they prepared to return from family visits over the holidays.
\n\u201cI\u2019m completely lost. It doesn\u2019t make any sense,\u201d Fiona Navin-Jones, a school teacher who was hoping to return to Belgium, where she has lived with her family for 14 years, told AFP.
\nThey decided to risk their Eurotunnel trip anyway on Thursday, where they were told at the terminal that getting through would depend on the border official.
\n\u201cI got through so I guess I was lucky!\u201d she said.
\nEurostar, the passenger train service which many Britons use to return to homes in Belgium and elsewhere, also warned users earlier this month about the French rule change.
\nBut it was not clear if they were being systematically applied at the three Eurostar stations in England.
\nOne Twitter user who was turned away at the last minute this week by French police as he tried to board the Eurotunnel shuttle posted that he was able to return to Brussels by train.
\n\u201cThe FR customs said they had been handed the paper in the last few hours that clarified the compelling reasons rule. They even seemed a little frustrated,\u201d wrote Roland Moore, a public relations executive in Belgium.
\nParis and London have been at loggerheads over a range of thorny subjects, including fishing and illegal immigration, since Britain\u2019s official exit from the EU nearly two years ago.
\nThat prompted several travelers to wonder if the new French policy was the latest skirmish between the two countries.
\n\u201cReason has prevailed \u2014 but I feel so sorry for families based in Belgium with residence but no passport,\u201d Navin-Jones said.
\n\u201cFrench rules still stink. You can quote me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS Britons who live in the European Union can no longer drive through France to their homes elsewhere in the bloc under new regulations that have created confusion for many holiday travelers. Many Britons take the Channel Tunnel from England to France, using Eurotunnel\u2019s Shuttle service, to drive from the UK to their homes in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n