BRUSSELS — Pressed by member states desperate to save the
summer tourist season, the European Union on Wednesday proposed a COVID-19
certificate that would allow people to travel more freely.
اضافة اعلان
The proposed document, known as a Digital Green Certificate,
would allow European residents and their family members to travel at will
across the bloc, so long as they have proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a negative
test result or a documented recovery from the virus.
The certificates would be free and available in digital or
paper format.
“The Digital Green Certificate will not be a precondition to
free movement, and it will not discriminate in any way,” Didier Reynders, the
bloc’s top official for justice, said, adding that the aim was to “gradually
restore free movement within the EU and avoid fragmentation.”
Freedom of movement is the cornerstone of the bloc, but
travel restrictions are traditionally under the purview of national
governments. The commission’s plan is yet another bid to coordinate what is now
a chaotic patchwork of disparate national measures, significantly hindering
travel within the previously borderless zone.
Under the proposed rules, national governments could decide
which travel restrictions, such as obligatory quarantine, would be lifted for
certificate holders.
The proposal, which needs to be approved by the European
Parliament and the majority of member states, comes as many European countries
are experiencing a third wave of infections as well as a slow mass inoculation
effort, damaged by doubts over a shot made by AstraZeneca. Several countries
suddenly suspended use of the vaccine, at least temporarily, confusing citizens
and possibly increasing resistance to vaccinations.
So far, only 9.8 percent of European Union residents have
been vaccinated, leaving the bloc far behind Britain and the United States.
On Wednesday, top EU officials acknowledged the sluggish
start of the bloc’s vaccination campaign and renewed criticism of “other
vaccine-producing countries” that they said were hoarding doses, singling out
Britain.
“We want to see reciprocity and proportionality in exports,
and we are ready to use whatever tool we need to deliver on that,” said Ursula
von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission. “This is about making sure
that Europe gets its fair share.”
Her remarks were the latest salvo in a long-running feud
between Brussels and London over vaccines.
The commission’s target of vaccinating 70 percent of adult
population by the end of the summer seems to be fading away, especially as the
largest European countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over
reports of a few cases of serious blood clots among people who received it. The
suspension could be lifted soon, but severe production problems have made
millions fewer AstraZeneca doses available.
“The situation with
the virus in Europe is still very challenging,” said Stella Kyriakides, the
bloc’s top health official. “It is only through a joint approach that we can
return safely to full free movement in the EU.”
The proposal does not change Europe’s current rules on
external travel. The bloc has restricted nonessential travel from countries
outside the bloc, with a small number of exceptions, based on infection rates.
Travelers who are not EU residents could receive a COVID-19 certificate, but
only if their visit to Europe falls under one of those exceptions.
In the meantime, some member nations are striking out on
their own, eager to reopen to non-European tourists. Greece has already signed
an agreement with Israel and is working on similar deals with 10 more
countries, including Britain, Canada and the United States.
The Commission’s plan would need to be approved by the
European Parliament and a majority of member states. The aim is to make the
certificates operational by mid-June, in order to salvage the summer season.
The initial push for some form of a vaccination certificate
has come from by countries heavily dependent on tourism, led by Greece, while
others, including France and Germany, have been wary of the potential for
discrimination between vaccinated and non-vaccinated Europeans, as well as
privacy issues.
Any discussions of the COVID-19 certificate are likely to
focus on data protection and privacy rights, said Juan Fernando López Aguilar,
a European socialist lawmaker from Spain. “We need to make sure that every step
we make is made compatible with the fundamental rights of the citizen,” he
said.
Guntram Wolff, the director of Bruegel, a research group
focused on economic policy in Europe, said that verifying vaccination and
testing was “absolutely essential” for reopening the tourism sector.
“Once a person is vaccinated and the evidence shows that he
or she cannot transmit the virus anymore, how can you justify restricting his
or her basic freedoms?” he asked.
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