Vaccination passport: the European Commission announces the preparation of a legislative text
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3 min
This was the most tangible result of the virtual European summit last Thursday and Friday: the establishment of a "health certificate" for EU citizens.
This idea had been very strongly pushed by countries of the South dependent on tourism and eager to reopen their borders as soon as possible (Greece and Cyprus for example signed an agreement on a green passport authorizing the entry of vaccinated Israeli tourists).
But some European countries, foremost among which France and Germany, rejected the idea of a vaccine passport as a condition for reopening borders, arguing that this would be discriminatory for the unvaccinated and that vaccines do not provide certainty of 'immunity.
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With our correspondent in Brussels
,
Pierre Bénazet
The countries of southern Europe are no longer alone in advocating a vaccination passport.
Now with the support of Austria, Bulgaria and Denmark, the European Commission has decided to step up a gear.
The simple health certificate that she was charged by the Twenty-Seven to prepare will become a viaticum for crossing the internal and external borders of the EU.
In any case, this is the principle of the legislative project announced this Monday, March 1 by Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer: "
This vaccination passport, this vaccination pass, would contain information, the exact content of which would have to be determined but which would relate to the fact that a person has been vaccinated but also if this person has had the opportunity to do a PCR test recently or if they can be considered immune to Covid because of their health situation, the presence of antibodies
”.
The Commission's desire to reopen the internal borders of the Schengen area should set in stone the transformation of the health certificate into a genuine European vaccination passport.
And so as not to hurt any capital, the project is presented as an instrument intended to facilitate the free movement of Europeans.
We'll present this month a legislative proposal for a Digital Green Pass.
The aim is to provide:
• Proof that a person has been vaccinated
• Results of tests for those who couldn't get a vaccine yet
• Info on COVID19 recovery
It will respect data protection, security & privacy
- Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 1, 2021
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