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I am an Italian citizen and I am relocating back to Italy, following the new rules for travelling in France, I do have a "compelling reason to travel".

I want to cross the channel with my car using the euro-tunnel.

I understand that I have to fill some forms and test requires to enter France, but I don't not understand the two days of mandatory quarantine even if I am not planning to stay in France at all. I just want to drive directly to Belgium and then Germany (possibly do a stop in Germany to sleep) and drive to Italy the next day. Both Germany and Belgium grant permission to transit their territory for the minimal amount technically needed to pass through.

I am not able to find any document addressing this specific situation, could somebody point me to some document or link that discuss something similar?

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    Interestingly, the case does not seem to be addressed in any of the documents. However, the passenger survey form which will be used to enforce the required isolation allows you to specify that you will be staying in another country, so you should just input that. However is transit via Belgium and Germany really the shortest path? Probably depends where in Italy you are going. You will also have to cross either Switzerland or Austria if you travel through Germany.
    – jcaron
    Commented Dec 20, 2021 at 16:57
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    Note that unless it is really a large detour, I would probably recommend you minimise the number of countries you have to transit through (just France, ideally). This would reduce the risk of complications (sudden changes in rules, additional tests...). Even as far East as Venice travelling through France only still makes sense.
    – jcaron
    Commented Dec 20, 2021 at 17:01
  • @Willeke The situation may have changed again as there are (rather hazy) reports now of French officials refusing access to Eurotunnel in the UK because driving through France to reach a destination [including returning to the UK at a later date] is "not a compelling reason for travel to France".
    – Andrew Leach
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 9:42
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    @AndrewLeach Those changes, entry and travel through France to a EU country, don't apply to EU citizens and their dependents. It only applies to 3rd country nationals who are not a resident of France. Britons with homes in EU told they can’t drive through France to get there | Coronavirus | The Guardian
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 14:19

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This is a rapidly changing situation and my personal experience might not be relevant in few days, saying that, this is what we have done:

Before departure

We reached out to the France authority using the email at the bottom of the Passenger Locator Form, they eventually replied to it (6 days later), saying that if you are just passing through France you don't need to quarantine.

The journey

We left UK on the 27th of December using the euro-tunnel, we had to present: a negative tests, fill a passenger locator form (where we added our final destination in Italy and the compelling reason to travel) and we had to sign a swear declaration. We upload all the information in advance and we received a confirmation that our documents where in order few hours before departures. Only the test check takes time, the other two documents where confirmed immediately.

The compelling reason to travel is automatic if you hold a European passport (or your are a spouse of a passport holder) and you want to reach your native country.

We took the route passing through France, Belgium and Germany without any further check. We stopped overnight in Germany and we travel across Switzerland and cross the Italian border on the evening of the 28th.

The Switzerland government provide a web site where you can check your situation https://travelcheck.admin.ch/home

In our case, we didn't have to do anything in particular.

On the Italian border, in theory, you don't need any further tests or forms to fill, because the freedom of movement within the union, however, we cannot confirm that because nobody stopped us at the border to check.

Some suggestions

The web site of the euro-tunnel gives you the options of the "compelling reasons to travel", however, I remember to be able to access to the full list of choices only after I purchased the ticket, during the upload of my data. I am not sure if this is an oversight on their side or it is deliberate.

In the end, the bought the full flexy options that allow full refund in case of cancellation and the capability to get to the first train available (probably an overkill, but it was indeed a smooth experience). I will recommend at least to buy the intermediate option that allow the full refund in case of cancellation.

Another option, probably a bit more time consuming is to book over the phone and double check with the operator if you have meeting the requirement of "compelling reason to travel".

It was my first time getting the euro-tunnel, so I cannot really compare it with anything, but the place looked not busy at all, I probably saw less then 10 cars in total during my checking, pet-scanning and embarkment process.

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    For future readers, it’s important to note that this answer is valid because OP is an EU citizen (or resident). The rules are different for UK citizens which are not also EU citizens or residents.
    – jcaron
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 23:05

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