Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

France's COVID-19 pass has pushed French diners over border to Belgium

France's COVID-19 pass has pushed French diners over border to Belgium

In Saint-Jans-Cappel, near the Belgian border, restaurant owner Bénédicte Duyck is worried. Her customers literally only have to cross the street to find a Belgian restaurant where they will not be submitted to France's new vaccine rules.

For most French restaurateurs, the country's new COVID-19 health pass that is now required for their customers is a bit of a headache. But for hospitality professionals working in France's border regions, it may turn out to be a vital threat to their businesses.

In Saint-Jans-Cappel, near the Belgian border, restaurant owner Bénédicte Duyck is worried. Her customers literally only have to cross the street to find a Belgian restaurant where they will not be submitted to France's new vaccine rules.

After the health pass entered into force on Monday, her restaurant Le Chalet du Mont Noir still has no reservations for the upcoming weekend.

"Last weekend my reservation book was full. I filled my restaurant both on Saturday and Sunday. I had more than 300 people over the weekend and I refused almost 200 people. For this weekend I'm not receiving any calls, except from journalists," Duyck told Euronews.

An undated photo where restaurant Le Chalet du Mont-Noir is seen in Saint-Jans-Cappel, near the Belgian border, France.


Just 100 metres away, a Belgian competitor is already reaping additional French customers as a result of the new measures.

"We don't have much hindsight yet. Still, yesterday we had a lot more people than usual and many customers asked us if the health pass was compulsory in Belgium," said Didier Delval, who manages restaurant L'Horloge Inversée in Heuvelland, Belgium.

"We had tables with colleagues from the same companies who all came to eat together. In a group of five, one of the clients was unvaccinated so he could not have eaten in a French restaurant."

The problem, Delval told Euronews, is that he doesn't have the manpower to meet increased demand from French customers.

"We're already overwhelmed and we're struggling to recruit," he said.

Duyck regretted that French authorities were not taking into account the specific challenges encountered by restaurants in border regions.

"On the radio, on television, we're seeing Ministers eating in restaurants and being happy to see things going smoothly [with the health pass.] But they did not come to border regions and see the situation of border restaurants," she told Euronews.

The restaurateur said the health pass only adds up to a series of hurdles for French restaurants since the beginning of the pandemic.

"My restaurant opened on November 23, 2019. Between that date and the end of the second lockdown, I was closed for nine months -- nine months out of 18 months of existence," she sighed.

"If the restaurant has no more revenues, state aid will stop in August. What will I do from September 1st? I don't have the answer."

"I think the state needs to think about other solutions to encourage people to get the vaccine without having us, restaurants, bars, or clubs, checking health passes. It's not our role, not our job," she added.

The health pass -- which shows that its holder has either received a coronavirus vaccine, tested negative in the past 72 hours or recovered from the virus during the previous six months -- was launched in France on 21 July.

At that point, it was only required by cultural and leisure venues with a capacity of more than 50 people. But as of this week, it is now required to visit bars, restaurants, health centres and to use long-distance public transport.

The measure has stirred mass protests throughout the country, but the government says it is needed to curb a fourth wave of coronavirus infections fueled by the more contagious delta variant.

"Without the health pass, we would have been forced to go to a complete lockdown again," said President Emmanuel Macron as he addressed criticism earlier this month.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×