Has the European Commission planned a vaccination passport from 2019 which would give access to certain activities or events? The excerpt from a January 2021 broadcast went viral again on social media after being shared on February 9 by Senator Les Républicains Alain Houpert. “Worrying”, he comments in the caption of this video in which Sophia Chikirou intervenes,
advisor Ile-de-France region attached to the La France Insoumise group.
“I found a working document from the European Commission dating from March 2019, which has since been working on the idea of a European Community vaccine passport. The idea is not new […], it does not arise during this pandemic, ”launches the elected Ile-de-France. “We have to ask ourselves the question of why this vaccine passport anticipated like this […] the pandemic of coronavirus, ”she continues. The elected defends herself from being “conspiratorial” but “finds that this idea of this vaccine passport hides things” and that it “does not have a health vocation”.
Worrying! If this is confirmed, I have no more words! https://t.co/pUE9dDjb7F
— Alain Houpert (@alainhoupert) February 9, 2022
The extract comes from of the show In front of Duhamelbroadcast on BFMTV on January 18, 2021.
FAKE OFF
In 2018, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, made up of members of the governments of EU member countries, have formulated vaccination recommendations. Among them, that of creating a “book” or a “vaccination passport”. The idea then was to ensure that every citizen living in the EU receives the recommended vaccines, even if they move to another Member State.
These two institutions started from the observation that “the differences between the vaccination schedules of the Member States, with regard to the recommendations, the type of vaccine used, the number of doses administered and the dates of the vaccines, increase the risk that citizens, especially children, miss a vaccine when moving to another Member State”.
A “study is in progress”
In 2019, the European Commission published a roadmap for the application of these various recommendations until 2022. A feasibility study was to be carried out over three years, until 2021. In 2022 a proposal for this project was to be formulated.
This “book” or “vaccination passport” project has not yet seen the light of day – and it is not certain that it will ever come to fruition. The European Commission tells us that “no decision” has been taken on this subject. In July 2021, Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health, explained that “a study is in progress”.
A different project from the “EU digital Covid certificate”
If the Commission and the Council of the EU took an interest in vaccination in 2018, it was because of a “decline in coverage [vaccinale]a supply shortage and growing vaccine hesitancy,” explained then the Commission.
This draft “booklet” or “vaccination passport” is different from the “EU digital Covid certificate”, which came into force on July 1, 2021. It is this certificate, equipped with a QR code, which is for example used by the French government in the TousAntiCovid application to certify the doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines received.
This document was drawn up to facilitate free movement within the EU. According to the Commission’s rules, it can be established either when a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, or by presenting a negative test result, or even by having a certificate of recovery from Covid-19.
The Commission precise that “the national use of EU digital Covid certificates remains within the competence of the Member States”, i.e. the States are free to use or not to use digital certificates in their response against the pandemic. The Commission adds that it is not the Commission that defines the terms of use of this certificate, but the Member States. Thus, asking “to access events or restaurants” is a skill and a choice made at the national level.
This certificate is currently in force for one year, i.e. until June 30, but the Commission has proposed on February 3 to extend it until June 2023, due to the health situation. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU must then validate – or not – this request.