The 27 launched the debate Monday, January 18 on a European vaccination certificate, proposed by Greece but which arouses the reluctance of some countries in the face of the risk of discrimination against people who are not vaccinated.
Read also: Greece in favor of a European "vaccination certificate"
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last week put forward the idea of a “
standardized
”
vaccination passport
, which would allow vaccinated people to travel to boost the tourism industry, devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
"
On the certificate, we must continue the debate,
" said Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs Ana Paula Zacarias, whose country holds the six-monthly presidency of the EU, after a meeting with her counterparts. by videoconference, three days before a European summit also remotely.
The discussion focused on the mutual recognition of such certificates and the creation of a digital platform to collect and exchange data on vaccination, in order to assess its effectiveness in particular.
"
In the future there could be other reasons (than medical) to use these certificates or these data
", estimated the Slovak vice-president of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic.
But "
under no circumstances do we want to create a situation in which people who do not want to be vaccinated or cannot be vaccinated, for example for medical reasons, would be limited in their rights and freedoms
", he said. highlighted.
"
These are questions for later because first we really want to make sure we have a system in place to use it for medical purposes,
" added the European official, while France and Germany in particular considered the idea of a vaccine passport to be premature, given the small proportion of the population having received the vaccine.
Sefcovic added that such a passport could be one of the different options for travel, also citing the presentation of a negative PCR test, currently required when entering some member states.
But "
it is very clear, from the point of view of the (Portuguese) Presidency and the Commission, that vaccination is voluntary,
" he said.
French Secretary of State Clément Beaune had indicated on Sunday that it "
would be shocking, while this vaccination campaign is still beginning everywhere in Europe, for there to be more important rights for some than for others
".
Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès also underlined that “
this certificate cannot infringe individual freedoms or cross-border mobility
” nor “
lead to discrimination between European citizens when access to vaccines is not generalized
” , according to a press release from the ministry.
German Secretary of State for European Affairs Michael Roth has also raised the question of whether those vaccinated no longer transmit the virus, saying the time has not yet come to address "
the details
" of the document. .
European Council President Charles Michel said on Sunday that the debate would be addressed at Thursday's summit, while acknowledging that it was a “
sensitive
”
subject
within the 27.
