Member States should again call on the EU Council to speed up work on the digital green certificate and reach an agreement “as soon as possible”, a diplomatic source said on 24 March.
The digital ‘passport’, which covers three types of situations (vaccinated people, people who have recently tested negative and people who have recovered from Covid-19), will not, however, be discussed in detail at the EU leaders’ summit on Thursday 25 March, as work has now started at the technical level and will continue.
But some leaders may recall how “important to them” this tool is, which is intended to allow a gradual return to free movement, the source added.
The European Commission would like to see this digital green certificate, presented on 17 March (see EUROPE 12680/1), completed by the end of May. It is of “great interest” to Member States, but also “has a number of difficulties”, commented another source. The interest for the EU27 is to have an interoperable tool, based on mutual recognition, which allows them “not to go off in all directions with 27 different and incompatible certificates”, which would engender “chaos”.
But many questions remain open, especially technical ones, with “a lot of data” and different actors “who technically have to control” these certificates. Some countries also question the potentially discriminatory nature of this tool. “It is difficult to give more rights to people who have been vaccinated than to others”. However, the Commission’s text does not strictly prescribe how these certificates should be used, the source added.
Another problem is that co-decision does not guarantee that the tool will be ready in time.
On Wednesday afternoon, the European Parliament debated this proposal in the presence of the Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, during a debate on the Summit. The Portuguese leader said she hoped to have a negotiating mandate with Parliament by mid-April and to reach a “political agreement [with Parliament] in May”. She reiterated her interest in having a common approach with interoperable certificates that will not make “vaccination a prerequisite” to start moving again in the EU.
Care must be taken “not to exclude certain categories of people”, said the Secretary of State, who recalled that no personal health data would be “stored”.
“We are counting on you”, said Maroš Šefčovič to the MEPs, who were invited to proceed with a fast-track procedure on this digital green certificate.
The elected representatives expressed mixed views on the certificate. For Manfred Weber (EPP, Germany), this certificate, even if it comes “too late”, is “a good step to take”, and the EPP is “in favour of an accelerated procedure”. Katalin Cseh (Renew Europe, Hungary) warned against discrimination against citizens, as did Greens/EFA co-president Philippe Lamberts (Belgium), who welcomed a proposal “which can be a solution to save the tourist season” and therefore the economy of some countries, but also raised concerns. “There is no guarantee [in the text] that Member States will not discriminate” between those vaccinated, tested or who have recovered from the disease.
The MEP also recalled that at this stage, it is not established that vaccination prevents infection, thus calling on Member States to be cautious and to make this certificate a “temporary instrument that is “limited in its uses”.
Current restrictions
The heads of state may also talk about border restrictions, following on from the last summit, according to another source, and non-essential travel bans.
Link to the draft conclusions: http://bit.ly/3vywOE9 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with editorial staff)