Resolution of the European Committee of the Regions on free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic (Digital Green Certificate) and the scaling up of vaccine production

(2021/C 300/02)

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR)

1.

notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had considerable consequences for the free movement of citizens within the European Union and beyond and has affected, in particular, cross-border travel and commuting;

2.

believes that vaccination to protect European citizens from COVID-19 and the emerging variants is the main way to bring the pandemic under control and to restore free movement;

3.

regrets that, to date, the Member States of the European Union are lagging behind on vaccination because of a slow start in concluding vaccine contracts with pharmaceutical companies, their lack of transparency regarding the contracts, and then the delayed deliveries of vaccines and difficulties in organising vaccination campaigns;

4.

insists that a common approach to verifying and certifying people's status in relation to COVID-19 is paramount to ensure the efficiency, effectiveness and interoperability of policies and of technical solutions to monitor the pandemic, and to facilitate the exercise of the right to move and reside freely within the territory of all EU Member States;

5.

welcomes the proposal of the European Commission for a Regulation on a framework for the issuance, verification and acceptance of interoperable certificates on vaccination, testing and recovery to facilitate free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic (Digital Green Certificate), as well as the proposal for a Regulation on Digital Green Certificates for third-country nationals legally staying or residing in the EU;

6.

welcomes the EP's position to amend the title to ‘EU COVID-19 Certificate’ in order to increase understanding of the usefulness of the certificate, thereby facilitating the promotion of it among citizens; stresses that local and regional authorities have an important role in promoting the certificate among their inhabitants and highlighting the added value of the EU in this context; calls therefore on the European Commission to engage with the European Committee of the Regions in a joint campaign effort;

The Digital Green Certificate

7.

reiterates its support, expressed in the Resolution on the COVID-19 pandemic vaccination campaign (RESOL-VII/010), to create a standardised and interoperable form of proof of vaccination for medical purposes, considering that certification of vaccination is a medical necessity. In order to avoid discrimination, this certificate should be delivered automatically within the European Union to vaccinated people, those who have recovered from COVID-19 or those who have been tested;

8.

insists on the fact that that the green certificate is not a new travel document giving new rights or privileges, but only a tool for the sole purpose of facilitating the exercise of the freedom of movement of persons during the COVID-19 pandemic;

9.

welcomes the fact that the proposed framework will provide for interoperable certificates not just for COVID-19 vaccination but also for testing and recovery in order to facilitate the holders' exercise of their right to free movement between EU countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and to improve respect of the sanitary measures in place. Further considerations should be given concerning the valid duration of the certificate and, if necessary, an update in the future;

10.

expresses concern, however, about the real interoperability of such technology between Member States when some of them are already planning to integrate vaccine certificates into their corona tracing apps, many of which are not compatible with other EU corona tracing apps;

11.

considers the Digital Green Certificate to be a means of combating and eliminating the threat of fake COVID-19 certificates, cases of which have been reported. High security standards need to be guaranteed in particular concerning paper-based certificates;

12.

insists that the Digital Green Certificate should be neither a pre-condition for the exercise of free movement rights nor a travel document and stresses the principle of non-discrimination, in particular towards non-vaccinated persons;

13.

suggests that Article 1 of the proposed regulation be amended in order to clarify that the Digital Green Certificate would not affect the right of cross-border workers to move freely between their homes and places of work during the pandemic. Nor should it affect the free movement of goods and essential services across the Single Market, including that of medical supplies and personnel through the so-called ‘Green Lane’ border crossings referred to in the Commission Communication on the implementation of the Green Lanes under the Guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and services;

14.

insists that non-discrimination must mean people who are not vaccinated but have a valid test confirming they are healthy being able to exercise their right to travel. Such a test must be available widely and at a minimum cost;

15.

supports the acceptance of certificates issued by third countries to EU citizens and their family members where these certificates are issued according to standards equivalent to those established by the regulation; expects similar treatment to be extended to the legally-staying or residing third-country nationals vaccinated in third countries;

16.

considers that the Digital Green Certificate should only apply to the vaccines which have received a European approval through a decision of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Article 2.3 of the European Commission regulation should be amended accordingly;

17.

agrees that the Digital Green Certificate should be issued free of charge in a digital or in a digital and paper-based format, in line with the digitalisation efforts of the European Union. Article 3.2 should be amended accordingly;

18.

points out that the regulation should recognise the internal organisation of the Member States and respect the subsidiarity principle by taking into account the fact that, in some Member States, national authorities are not the only authorities issuing health certificates. Reference should be made to ‘relevant public authorities’ throughout the regulation (starting with Article 3.2);

19.

asks the European Commission, after the entry into force of the Digital Green Certificate, to coordinate restrictions on the free movement of people within the EU, such as quarantine, self-isolation, a test for COVID-19 infection or denial of entry. In particular, it insists that the Member States should notify the other Member States and the Commission without delay and in advance of introducing such restrictions, together with the relevant reasoning and indications of the scope of the measures taken (amendment to Article 10.1);

20.

calls for respect of data protection in the very sensitive and personal framework of health and asks the European legislator to assess thoroughly the data protection implications of the proposed certificate in particular, its compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and in regards to the storage of data and whether EU data could be moved out of the European Union; insists that once the pandemic is over the data should no longer be assessed;

21.

reiterates the need to respect the fundamental rights and the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights when this regulation is implemented by Member States and their regions, including the right to respect for private and family life, the right to the protection of personal data, the right to equality before the law and non-discrimination, the right to free movement and the right to an effective remedy. In this regard, any restrictions on fundamental rights should be subject to proportionality assessments and checks;

22.

urges the European Parliament and the European Council to adopt the Digital Green Certificate as soon as possible in order to have it and the system fully operational this summer, providing an important step for the recovery of the EU economy;

23.

urges Member States to exercise caution in how they use the Digital Green Certificate. Basic services should remain available to all citizens;

The scaling up of vaccine production

24.

reaffirms that the European Union's action should abide by the principle of solidarity. Access to vaccination should not be determined by the place where people live or by the economic strategy of private undertakings;

25.

calls for a rapid increase of vaccine production in Europe and supports the efforts of the European Commission aiming to scale up this vaccine production, particularly by increasing the number of manufacturing sites in the European Union; asks the European Commission to examine whether ad-hoc state aid provisions should be envisaged for that purpose;

26.

believes that, in order to increase vaccine production, the European Union could explore new solutions such as a temporary suspension of patents for medicines and medical technologies to treat or prevent COVID-19 infections;

27.

reiterates its call on the European legislators to present robust and bold proposals for the development and production of essential medicines on European soil, in order to ensure the EU's strategic autonomy by reducing dependency on third countries;

28.

reaffirms that the vaccination of the European population must remain the first priority of the European Union and welcomes the authorisation mechanism for exports of COVID-19 vaccines outside the EU as a necessary step for vaccine producers to fulfil their obligations towards EU citizens; at the same time, insists that this vaccination process can only be efficient if the European Union continues to help providing vaccines to the rest of the world, particularly in the less developed countries, notably within the COVAX alliance, of which 142 States are part.