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Digital Green Pass, here are the states that push and those that slow down

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Digital Green Pass, here are the states that push and those that slow down

In mid-March, Brussels will present a bill to establish the Digital Green Pass, or vaccination passports. All the details of the project and the states that are holding back (and those that are pressing)

On March 17, the EU Commission will present the legislative proposal to establish the digital passport.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the Commission, announced the plan via Twitter yesterday after EU leaders reached a broad understanding last week that a Covid-19 certificate or "passport" should have been in place by the summer.

“We will present a legislative proposal for a 'digital green pass',” wrote von der Leyen. “The pass should make life easier for Europeans. The aim is to allow them to gradually move safely in the EU or abroad, for work or tourism “.

The announcement by the president of the European Commission of the legislative proposal to establish the 'Digital Green Pass' has aroused mixed reactions from EU governments.

Tourism-dependent countries such as Greece and Spain have stepped up their pressure in recent weeks in an attempt to save the 2021 summer season. Among the countries holding back, considering the discussion premature, are Germany, Holland and Belgium.

"Vaccination passport? We are discussing it at a European level, we will certainly go on a digital health document ”declared the Minister of Tourism, Massimo Garavaglia, who spoke in Sorrento, on the sidelines of the General States of Tourism.

Meanwhile, just yesterday the Italian Privacy Guarantor stressed the need for a national law for a vaccination pass.

All the details on the vaccination passport, or rather Digital Green Pass, on which Brussels is working.

HOW THE DIGITAL GREEN PASS WILL BE

As von der Leyen wrote on Twitter, the aim “is to provide proof that a person has been vaccinated; give test results for those who have not yet been vaccinated; give information on recovery from Covid-19 ". The certificate “will respect data protection, security and privacy. The Digital Green Pass should make the lives of Europeans easier. The goal is to gradually allow citizens to move safely within the EU or outside it, for work or tourism ”.

"We are confident that we can reach our goal at the end of the summer of vaccinating 70% of the adult European population, this is 255 million EU citizens, and if we look at the forecast data this is a goal that we are sure we can achieve", declared the president of the Commission at the end of the EU summit.

THE STORM

"We need at least three months for the technical development of an inter-operable European system" for vaccination passports ", explained von der Leyen at the end of the EU summit. The agreement concerns the use of "a series of minimum data" in the passport "which could be useful for providing information on the alleged immunity" of citizens.

Confidential information, relating to vaccination, test negativity and possible antibody development, must be "cross-border relevant," he added. The president of the EU Commission insisted on the importance of "developing a European approach" to the vaccine passport system.

OTHERWISE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS (LIKE THAT OF GOOLE AND APPLE)

At the end of the European Council, President von der Leyen had explained in the event of a failure to European solution for the health certificate, alternatives such as Google and Apple would have taken hold.

"If we don't succeed, the bilateral initiatives" of the Member States "will create even more difficulties" and even large companies such as "Google and Apple are ready to offer solutions to the WHO", but it is about sharing "confidential information, so we want to say clearly that we offer a European solution ”.

THE MAXIMUM AGREEMENT REACHED AT THE EU SUMMIT

As we said in the vaccination passport, the member countries had reached a maximum agreement at the end of the EU summit last week.

“At the Commission we are working on all possible angles I, Stella Kyriakides, Thierry Breton, Ylva Johansson”, explained yesterday the vice president Margaritis Schinas, in a press videoconference at the end of an informal meeting of health ministers. "We are delighted that there is a consensus among leaders on the need to accelerate this work," said Schinas.

MEMBER COUNTRIES PUSHING FOR THE VACCINAL PASSPORT

“We want an EU-wide green passport with which we can travel freely, for business and to go on vacation, as well as finally enjoying cultural events, and more,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz explained on Twitter. Kurz is among the leaders contacted by the Greek premier, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to create a coalition to push the Covid passport initiative, in view of the summer.

Spanish tourism minister Reyes Maroto welcomed the idea of ​​a covid 'passport', as did Portuguese economy minister Pedro Siza Vieira.

Greece, whose economy is heavily dependent on the tourism industry, has been supporting the launch of a vaccination passport for months, and has already started talks with London on a bilateral agreement for the summer.

"We must avoid that each country develops its own system, working on a common medical certification", said the French president Macron after the discussion with the leaders of the 27 countries.

AND THOSE WHO BRAKE

Among the countries that are holding back, considering the discussion premature, Germany, Holland and Belgium, Ansa noted .

"For Belgium, it's not about linking vaccination to freedom of movement in Europe," Belgian foreign minister and former prime minister Sophie Wilmès wrote on Twitter. "Compliance with the principle of non-discrimination is more fundamental than ever since vaccination is not mandatory and access to the vaccine is not yet generalized."

“In the future, it will certainly be positive to have such a certificate, declared German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of the EU summit. "But that doesn't mean that only those with such a passport will be able to travel."

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/digital-green-pass-ecco-gli-stati-che-spingono-e-quelli-che-frenano/ on Tue, 02 Mar 2021 15:09:17 +0000.