Debate: Digital Green Certificate - Union citizens - Digital Green Certificate - third country nationals - The accessibility and affordability of Covid-testing
Date: WEDNESDAY, 28 APRIL 2021
Speaker: Didier Reynders
Language: FR

La Commission propose un outil qui facilitera la libre circulation dans toute l’Union européenne, un outil qui sera émis et accepté dans tous les États membres, permettant ainsi aux citoyens européens de voyager en toute sécurité et sans discrimination au sein de l’ensemble de l’Union, un outil qui soutiendra la reprise des activités économiques et pourra servir de modèle aux futures solutions développées au niveau international. Cet outil, Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, c’est le certificat vert numérique. The Digital Green Certificate aims to facilitate free movement, at a time when we still need to live with the virus – when some of us have already been vaccinated, while others have not because they are not yet priority level or because they don’t want to be vaccinated. The certificate concerns the intra-EU cross-border travel of EU citizens and their family members, together with a twin proposal extending the system to third—country nationals legally staying or residing in an EU Member State and moving to another Member State. Of course, when developing the technical solutions, we will seek to ensure coherence with international standards that are currently being developed. The proposal is firmly built on two core values: non-discrimination and data protection. The Digital Green Certificate will be available to all Europeans, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. And it will ensure a high level of data protection, with a decentralised system of verification, using public key infrastructure. I welcome the support of Parliament to make sure that the sensitive data included in the certificates is properly protected. This is crucial to ensure citizens’ trust in the system. We need swift action to have a reliable and secure tool in place as soon as possible. Time is of the essence, and we need to ensure roll—out before the summer.  Technical work is progressing well to implement a solution that avoids centralisation of personal data, minimises the use of personal data and ensures security. I call on your support for this approach. The Commission stands ready to address Parliament’s concerns on data protection and other points during the upcoming trilogue negotiations. If we can deliver politically, the technical solution will be ready in time. If we don’t, we risk fragmentation across Europe, with a multitude of possibly incompatible national solutions. We would risk having a variety of documents that cannot be read and verified in other Member States. And we risk the spread of forged documents and, with this, the spread of both the virus and the mistrust of citizens. While putting in place the Digital Green Certificate, we have to live with the fact that there are still scientific uncertainties regarding COVID-19. We do not yet have full scientific evidence about the effects of vaccination or recovery from the virus. But we cannot wait for all these questions to be answered to start taking action. We have to act now, by adopting a text that is sufficiently flexible to take these developments into account once more scientific knowledge becomes available. For this reason, the Commission proposes to keep separate, for the moment, the Digital Green Certificate – the tool that we aim to establish with this Regulation – and its possible uses. We should not get stuck on arguments about whether or not to lift restrictions for the holders of such certificates. We will not be able to solve them at this point in time. In particular, new variants of concern are raising significant uncertainty. The difficult discussion on the use of the certificate has the potential to prevent us from moving forward in a pragmatic way. About the possible use of the certificates beyond free movement, our proposal does not create a legal basis for such use in the Member States. If Member States wish to use the certificates for other purposes, they would need a legal basis at national level, in national law, which will have to be fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation, and would need to prove that such a use is necessary and proportionate, in consultation with their national data protection authorities. The Commission would advise against prohibiting the use of the Digital Green Certificate on such a national legal basis. Otherwise, the Member States that want to use the certificates domestically would be likely to create a separate national system. The result would be a worrying fragmentation in the European Union. Let me now make a couple of points on the accessibility and affordability of COVID-19 tests. The Digital Green Certificate will be free of charge, and we share the view that tests should be affordable for all citizens. But issues related to the reimbursement of medical costs, such as those for COVID-19 tests, fall within the competence of the Member States. This is a complex field, with many different public and private actors involved. More fundamentally, the impact on the availability of tests would have to be carefully considered, given that we are still fighting the pandemic. For its part, the Commission has mobilised EUR 100 million to purchase over 20 million rapid antigen tests, which have been delivered to the Member States. The option to purchase an additional 400 million tests has been secured through our joint procurement mechanism. Member States have placed orders for 40 million tests, and are of course encouraged to purchase more if there is a need. Such joint procedures allow us to secure better conditions, including prices, for individual Member States. Madame la Présidente, Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, il est évident que nous ne retournerons pas pleinement à la normale dès cet été. Pour contenir le virus, certaines mesures devront être maintenues, mais dès l’été qui s’annonce et afin d’aider les citoyens à voyager à nouveau en Europe en toute sécurité, nous avons besoin de documents fiables et interopérables: nous avons besoin du certificat vert numérique. Je vous invite dès lors à agir rapidement dans l’intérêt des citoyens européens et du marché intérieur. La Commission est prête à travailler sans relâche afin de soutenir la recherche d’un compromis acceptable pour les colégislateurs, et ce le plus rapidement possible. Je vous remercie de votre attention et je me réjouis évidemment d’entendre vos questions et observations auxquelles nous tenterons de répondre, certainement, au cours du trilogue.