At 10:06 this morning an A320 charter carrying Pope Léon XIV touched down at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, marking the first papal visit to France in twelve years. Within minutes, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed activation of the ‘urgence attentat’ tier of the Vigipirate plan, authorising reinforced police and gendarmerie deployments at airports, high-speed rail stations and motorway border crossings with Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain. While Schengen rules normally guarantee free internal movement, France has notified the European Commission of a 48-hour re-introduction of spot passport checks at land and air borders. Business travellers arriving on Eurostar and Thalys services reported 15- to 30-minute delays as immigration officers stamped non-EU passports—a procedure that had been largely abandoned since the rollout of automated PARAFE gates. Airlines have been instructed to board passengers 20 minutes earlier to allow manual document review, and ground handlers at CDG have set up overflow queuing zones in Terminal 2E. Inside Paris, security units have cordoned several hotel clusters frequented by corporate delegations. The Marriott Champs-Élysées, Peninsula and Résidence Charles Floquet are within the ‘red zone’ perimeter, meaning guests must pass metal detectors each time they exit or enter. Event organisers anticipate last-minute venue swaps: a Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce reception originally slated for the Hôtel de Crillon tonight has moved to Versailles to avoid mobility bottlenecks. Despite the heightened controls, the French presidency stresses that routine commercial activity should continue, adding that contingency planning mirrors what Paris executed during the Olympics. Multinationals are nevertheless triggering crisis-management protocols: one Fortune-100 pharmaceutical firm has asked employees to avoid Paris-intra-muros unless business-critical, citing the risk of disruptions to sample-cold-chain logistics. For expatriate managers, the episode highlights the persistent interplay between high-profile diplomatic events and France’s discretionary power to suspend Schengen guarantees. Companies should ensure their posted workers carry residence permits or visa copies—even on routine cross-border day trips—until normal procedures resume on 27 September.
Source: Reuters via Boursorama
