Europe

Michel Barnier has officially declared himself a candidate in the French presidential elections. Barnier, known as a Brexit negotiator on behalf of the European Commission, wants to be the candidate of Les Républicains next year.   Barnier officially announced this on Thursday evening on the French channel TF1. He had been hinting at his participation in the elections for some time. Barnier (70) has a long political career and has held various ministerial posts in France since 1993, including under the presidencies of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2005, a year after taking office, he was fired as foreign minister after France said 'non' in the referendum on the European Constitution. In 2009 Barnier became European Commissioner for the Internal Market. Despite his prominen...

French healthcare staff will have until September 15 to be vaccinated. After that, anyone who has not had an injection risks a suspension without continued payment of the salary. The French parliament this morning approved the bill providing for this.   Personnel with medical contraindication do not need to be vaccinated. France is also tightening the corona measures with a so-called 'health pass', which regulates access to catering and public transport. Since Wednesday, visitors to French museums, cinemas and event venues have already had to show proof that they have been vaccinated against the coronavirus or tested negative. From August, all adults will be obliged to show a vaccination certificate via a so-called 'corona pass' in the catering industry, some shopping centres, and...

From Monday, there will no longer be an age limit for adults to receive a vaccine against the coronavirus in France.   Prime Minister Jean Castex announced this earlier this month. All residents of eighteen years of age or older are now eligible for a vaccine. The initiation of vaccination for all adults is two weeks earlier than expected. It was initially planned for mid-June, but France is more than ever on the right track, according to the prime minister. More than 25 million inhabitants of France have received their first corona pepper so far. This is almost 40 percent of the population. Nearly 12 million inhabitants, just over 20 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated. The corona situation across the country has improved significantly in recent weeks, allowing...