The pass still does not pass through the upper house of parliament. Dominated by the right-wing opposition, the Senate intends to introduce this Thursday a “review clause” in the bill concerning the extension of the health pass. Presented by the government as a “toolbox”, the text aims to extend beyond November 15 the possibility of using the health pass and a whole battery of measures to curb the Covid-19 epidemic, in the context of ” a post-crisis diet until July 31, 2022.
With regard to measures involving deprivation of liberty, the Senate makes regular control by Parliament an essential condition. “There is no question of giving a blank check until July 31, 2022, it must be under the control of Parliament”, insists the LR president of the Senate Gérard Larcher.
“Three and a half months is fine, eight and a half months is too much”
The senators largely rewrote the text in committee and adopted the proposal of rapporteur Philippe Bas (LR) to extend the provisions until February 28 only. It is up to the government to return to Parliament to continue beyond, if the health situation so requires. The rapporteur considers that “three and a half months is fine, eight and a half months is too much”. A state of mind generally shared by senators.
“The government tells us” we are going to step over the presidential elections and we will go back to Parliament “. No. We give the government a certain number of powers over our freedoms, we want control of Parliament, ”said senator leader LR Bruno Retailleau. On the left, the boss of the PS senators Patrick Kanner is on the same line on this point, criticizing the executive for “its logic of concentration of power”.
The health pass “no longer has any reason to exist in metropolitan France”
On the other hand, the question of the sanitary pass is debated. The rapporteur proposes that it can no longer be used in the departments which will have, by November 15, more than 75% of their population vaccinated (ie roughly 90% of those over 12). This proposal “was felt in a nuanced way by the senatorial majority”, according to the president of the centrist group Hervé Marseille. The majority have affirmed “anti-pass” in its ranks, such as the centrist Loïc Hervé. On the left, the Socialists will propose to go further, believing that the health pass “no longer has any reason to exist in metropolitan France”, according to Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie.
The Minister of Health Olivier Véran believes he does not have “sufficient perspective at this stage” to be able to “deprive himself of a tool which is functional, which is very well accepted by people”. “Which does not mean that we want to maintain it over time,” he said Tuesday before the senators. “The question is not to know what such and such thinks, but today we are totally in control of the virus. The answer is no ”, tackled Christophe Castaner, the boss of deputies En Marche, on Sud Radio on Wednesday.
The Senate does not want a “waiver of medical confidentiality” for students
The Senate should also remove the controversial provision introduced by amendment to the National Assembly to allow knowledge of the vaccination status of students by school principals or secondary school heads. For Philippe Bas, this “new exemption from medical confidentiality” is “likely to foreshadow the implementation of a health pass for students”.
Once the text has been voted on in the Senate, with its modifications, deputies and senators will try to agree on a common version in a joint committee. In case of failure, the National Assembly will have the last word.