European Union leaders will agree on Thursday to work on vaccination certificates for EU citizens who have had an anti-COVID shot, with southern EU countries heavily dependent on tourism desperate for the summer holiday season te red.
Lockdown to delay the pandemic last year caused the deepest economic recession in the 27-nation bloc, which hit the south of the EU, where economies are much more dependent on visitors, out of proportion.
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European flags fluttering outside European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium
(Photo: Reuters)
With the spread of vaccines against COVID-19, some governments, such as those of Greece and Spain, have called for the rapid adoption of an EU-wide certificate for those who have already been vaccinated so that people can travel again.
Other countries, such as France and Germany, however, seem more reluctant, as officials there say it could create de facto vaccination obligations and be discriminatory for those who cannot or do not want to.
France, where the anti-vaccine sentiment is particularly strong and where the government has undertaken not to make it compulsory, considers the idea of vaccine passports as ‘premature’, a French official said on Wednesday.
Work is needed on the details, including whether it should be in digital form, accepted worldwide and at what stage of the two-step vaccination process it should be issued.
“We ask for the work to continue with a common approach to vaccination certificates,” reads a draft statement from the leaders’ video conference seen by Reuters, without setting a time frame for the outcome.
Officials said the EU was working with the International Air Transport Association, which wants to revive travel, and with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Health Organization.
But the journey with certificates has also raised legal questions, officials said, because those who qualify last can claim that their freedom of movement is unfairly restricted by the ropes that often last months.
EU officials also point out that there is still no guidance from the WTO and EU agencies as to whether people who received two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine can still carry the coronavirus and infect others, even if they are no longer defenseless.
It was also not clear whether people could be contagious after already fighting the coronavirus, for how long they were immune and whether they should also get certificates.
“There are still many things we do not know,” said a senior EU official. “We need more time to come to a common line.”
But time is short for countries in the south, where the hospitality sector needs to know what it needs to prepare for in the coming months. Despite the official position that all EU governments want to resolve the issue together, some may decide to move faster individually.
Earlier in February, Greece and Israel signed an agreement to facilitate travel restrictions for Israelis to Greece with proof of COVID-19 vaccination.