The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament failed to reach an agreement on the European Digital Certificate on Tuesday 18 May in the third trilogue meeting, as the two sides continued to disagree on the cost of PCR tests and on restrictions on free movement imposed on people with the certificate.
The meeting lasted more than four hours on Tuesday evening and negotiations will resume on Thursday 20 May, with the aim of both parties to reach an agreement this week. Some progress has been made on issues such as the six-week transition period in the implementation of the Regulation which could turn into a ‘phasing-in’ period, a source said.
Parliament would also be prepared to accept that all vaccines, in particular those recognised in the WHO emergency list, be included and valid for European certificates. The EU Council also has no difficulty in changing the name of this tool to the ‘European Covid-19 certificate’, but positions remain far apart on the two most controversial issues, namely test prices and free movement.
The Member States’ ambassadors to the EU once again discussed their negotiations, on 19 May, and they reiterated their firmness on both issues, the source reported.
And the room for manoeuvre seems very slim. Regarding test prices, Parliament is in favour of free testing or, failing that, price capping, but putting this in a text is a red line for the Member States, as this subject of reimbursements is a national competence.
Parliament has proposed using the European Emergency Support Instrument (ESI) to finance part of the PCR tests and put this approach on the table on Tuesday evening, but the proposal “was not very well understood by the EU Council or indeed the Commission”, our source said.
The Commission had reportedly discussed the use of an EU tool to fund more rapid antigen tests, but Parliament had raised the possibility to include PCR tests, the source said.
Member States have therefore asked Parliament to “clarify” its views on this point, but the EU Council may not do much more than insert a recital stating that the tests should remain affordable.
Regarding free movement, Parliament could accept the maintenance by Member States of restrictions for persons with the certificate, but with an obligation to notify Parliament of any new measures. The Council of the EU does not want this information obligation and wants to keep its hand on national health measures.
In Parliament, they are calling on Member States to change their position to allow an agreement to be reached, as Dutch MEP Jeroen Lenaers (EPP) said.
“Despite the fact that we proposed balanced compromises on the cost of the tests and the restriction of free movement, we did not manage to reach an agreement”, he reacted in a statement. “We don’t have much time, we need a united approach to revive the economy, tourism and to save the summer”.
The EU Council agrees and has threatened to use a recommendation, rather than this Regulation, if the negotiations fail. A threat that seems “real and does not do much to help” the discussions, a parliamentary source lamented.
The leaders of the main Parliament Groups wrote to the Portuguese Presidency on 19 May and urged Member States to compromise. They reiterate the proposal to use the ESI and state their total opposition to measures restricting free movement for people with the certificate, convinced that this fundamental right for citizens must be restored.
Link to the letter: https://bit.ly/3bCBe4P (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)