EU Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, responsible for free movement issues, told members of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties on Tuesday 13 April that the digital green certificate will be operational from “the end of June”, after ratification in plenary, probably in early June.
While the Member States could agree on this proposal for a regulation as early as 14 April—or Friday 16 April, if they fail to do so on Wednesday—the European Commissioner had to respond to the many concerns of elected representatives during a debate.
He has repeatedly asserted that this digital green certificate will be “in no way a vaccination passport or a precondition to free movement”. It will still be possible for all citizens “to move around” even without a certificate, he promised.
This tool, which will concern people who have been vaccinated, tested negative recently and recovered from Covid-19, will also be “temporary” and will no longer apply once the WHO has declared the pandemic over. There will also be as little personal data as possible required.
Other concerns in the European Parliament include compliance with Schengen rules and the possibility of new internal border controls to ensure that travellers have this certificate or exactly how Member States will make use of this tool.
Mr Reynders assured that this certificate would not lead to new obligations for internal border controls, the Commissioner believing that it will be “quite the opposite” and that this tool will allow a gradual return to free movement. The digital green certificate should “restore confidence” in the Member States.
This certificate will not be used for anything other than free movement. Any other use will have to be justified by “another national legal basis”. In other words, Member States will not be able to request this certificate for purposes other than border crossing.
As for the types of vaccines recognised in the EU, including the Russian and Chinese vaccines, the Commissioner said that at this stage the Commission could not impose in its regulation to list other vaccines than those recognised by the European Medicines Agency. However, within a few months, these other vaccines may well have been authorised.
However, every citizen will still have the right to acquire a certificate, “regardless of the vaccine used”, and Member States will be able to make special arrangements for this.
Mr Reynders was also asked whether measures such as PCR tests or quarantine on arrival should be maintained in parallel with these certificates, as Member States wish to keep the option of maintaining these sanitary measures.
For MEP Sophie in ’t Veld (Renew Europe, the Netherlands), this makes “no sense”, as the aim of the digital green certificates is precisely to return to normal. The Dutchwoman also called for these PCR tests to be free of charge at border crossings, “at least for a certain number of them; after that, we can have a capped test price”.
The proposal was not accepted by Mr Reynders, who stressed that this was a national competence.
Parliament is co-legislator on this regulation and has agreed to deal with it under an urgency procedure. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)