BRUSSELS (AP) – With summer looming and tourism-dependent countries anxiously awaiting the return of a steady influx of visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic, the European Union’s executive body on Wednesday submitted a proposal will enable the 450 million people – vaccinated or not – to travel freely across the bloc of 27 countries by the summer.
The plan, which will be discussed at a summit of EU leaders next week, provides for the creation of vaccination certificates aimed at facilitating travel from one Member State to another.
“We all want the tourism season to start. “We can not afford to lose another season,” Vera Jourova, vice-president of the European Commission, told Czech public radio. “Tourism, as well as culture and other sectors that depend on tourism, are going very hard. We’re talking about ten million jobs. ”
The topic has been discussed for weeks and seems to be divided. The tourism industry and southern European countries that depend on tourism such as Greece and Spain are pushing for the rapid introduction of the measure, which can help avoid quarantines and testing requirements.
But several member states, including France, have argued that it would be premature and discriminatory to introduce such passes, as a large majority of EU citizens have so far not had access to vaccines.
According to data compiled by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, less than 5% of European citizens have been fully vaccinated amid delays in the delivery and production of vaccines. However, the European Commission remains confident that it can achieve its goal of vaccinating 70% of the adult EU population by the end of the summer.
To ensure the attachment of all Member States, the Commission proposed that the so-called Digital Green Certificates, which should be free of charge, be provided to EU residents who can prove that they have been vaccinated, but also to those who have been tested negative for the virus or proof that they have recovered from it.
“Being vaccinated is not a condition of travel,” the commission said. “All EU citizens have a fundamental right to free movement within the EU, and this applies regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. The Digital Green Certificate will make it easier to exercise that right, also through test and repair certificates. ”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said the certificates will help boost tourism and the economies that rely heavily on them, while the European aviation industry urges EU governments to ensure that the pass is in place in time for the peak of the summer travel season. .
The commission suggested that all vaccines placed by the European Medicines Agency with a rubber stamp should be automatically recognized, but also offered governments the option of including other vaccines, such as Russia’s Sputnik or China, Sinovac, which is not the EU. market authorization has not been received.
The European Commission guaranteed that “a very high level of data protection will be ensured” and said the certificates would be issued in digital format for display on smartphones or paper.
EU officials also hope that vaccine certificates will persuade member states that have imposed travel restrictions to slow down the pace of new infections to lift their measures. EU executives had earlier warned six countries that their travel restrictions, which in Belgium led to a ban on unimportant travel, could undermine the core principle of EU free travel and damage the internal market.
The commission said the certificates should be suspended as soon as the World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If EU leaders agree, the proposal will have to be approved by EU lawmakers to take effect.
___
Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this story.
___
Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at:
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemie
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus- vaccination
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak