As of Thursday, cross-border workers no longer need to present a negative Covid-19 test result to travel to Saarland for less than 24 hours. In Rheinland-Pfalz, however, the rule still applies.

Good news for cross-border workers working in Saarland. In this federal state, which shares a stretch of border with Luxembourg (between Remich and Schengen), travel rules are becoming more flexible.

Cross-border workers are now exempt from having to present a negative Covid-19 test result no older than 48 hours, provided they do not stay more than 24 hours in the federal state.

Until now, the 16,000 cross-border workers from the French Lorraine region had to be tested up to three times a week to be allowed to travel to Saarland, according to the newspaper Le Républicain Lorrain. This measure was introduced on 2 March 2020 and had become synonymous with hardship and frustration for thousands of mostly French cross-border workers.

However, even though going to work in Saarbrücken has become a lot easier, those working in Trier will not benefit from similar relaxations. The rule of two negative test results and one certificate per week remains in force in Rheinland-Pfalz.

Besides Rheinland-Pfalz, with which Luxembourg shares most of its border, the latter two measures also remain in force in the 15 other German federal states. Thus, for cross-border workers travelling to Trier, this means that they will still have to undergo regular Covid-19 tests, the results of which they must present as soon as they arrive in the federal state.