Boris Johnson ‘will urge Angela Merkel to drop demands for an EU-wide quarantine for UK tourists’

Boris Johnson will this week face down Angela Merkel in a bid to save summer holidays, as the German Chancellor stands accused of trying to punish the UK.

Germany has been pushing to impose a European Union-wide quarantine on British tourists, including those who have been double-jabbed, arguing it would protect the bloc against Covid variants.

Government sources told The Mail on Sunday they fear British tourists are being unfairly punished by the EU because of the UK’s advanced ability to identify new mutations of the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will this week face down Angela Merkel in a bid to save summer holidays, as the German Chancellor stands accused of trying to punish the UK

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The ‘genomic sequencing’ capability in Britain is recognised as world-leading, which means it is better at spotting new variants.

Sources stressed that other countries also have variants of concern, but are not as good as identifying them. 

On Friday, the Prime Minister will meet Ms Merkel at Chequers and will use the meeting to try to persuade her to back down.

Her visit will be one of her last visits abroad before stepping down as German leader.

The meeting between Mr Johnson and Ms Merkel will focus on the pandemic, as well as post-Brexit relations.

Tomorrow, Germany, with the support of France, will propose an EU-wide 14-day quarantine policy for visitors from what it considers countries of concern for Covid variants, including the UK.

Mr Johnson faces mounting internal pressure to speed up quarantine-free travel for people who are double-jabbed

The move threatens to derail holidays for millions of Britons, who have rushed to book trips to Ibiza, Majorca, Menorca, Malta (pictured) and Madeira after the UK Government put them on its green list of places not requiring quarantine on return

The move threatens to derail holidays for millions of Britons, who have rushed to book trips to Ibiza, Majorca, Menorca, Malta and Madeira after the UK Government put them on its green list of places not requiring quarantine on return.

French President Emmanuel Macron has echoed the German Chancellor’s comments, saying the EU should be ‘taking co-ordinated decisions in terms of opening of borders to third countries’. 

This has provoked a furious row within the bloc, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis calling on France and Germany to speed up its vaccination programme instead.

Spain, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal are also expected to resist the plans.

Grant Shapps last week blamed the EU’s slow vaccination rate for the calls to ban British tourists. The Transport Secretary said it ‘may be just a question of waiting for their vaccination programme’.

Huw Merriman, chairman of the Commons transport committee, said it would be ‘madness’ for the EU nations to impose mandatory quarantine for all British tourists considering how much they contribute to their hosts’ economies. 

Mr Johnson faces mounting internal pressure to speed up quarantine-free travel for people who are double-jabbed.

Last week, Mr Shapps said people who have had two jabs will be free from having to self-isolate on return from amber list nations ‘later in the summer’. 

Details will be set out in July. But sources said the move may apply from next month if efforts to speed up the rollout of jabs succeed.