Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1365814
14 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 28 APRIL 2021 ANALYSIS DAVID LINDSAY THE European Parliament is adamant that, come the end of June, EU member states will no longer have a say in which coun- tries they are to accept travellers from on account of their nation- al, piecemeal COVID-19 restric- tions. Instead, they will be bound to allow entry, irrespective of any national regulations, to any- one holding an EU Digital Green Certificate. As of yesterday, Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abe- la and Heath Minister Chris Fearne were still speaking of green and red travel lists, of the prospect of Malta gaining entry onto the coveted green list by June, and of requiring the presentation of a negative test certificate before boarding a plane. All such considerations, how- ever, are to be thrown out the window in the very near future, possibly as early as this week, if Parliament, the Commission and Council are able to ham- mer out a deal palatable to all. There are, however, some flies in the ointment when it comes to the positions of Parliament and Council when it comes to national powers to impose ex- tra restrictions. The concept of the certifi- cate is to abolish the red, green or amber lists, as well as the myriad and varied regulations across the different member states in favour of a single, EU- wide certificate vouching for individuals' fitness to travel an- ywhere in the EU. Under new EU-wide rules be- ing thrashed out by Parliament, the Commission and Council, people who have been fully vaccinated, tested negative or as have recovered from COV- ID-19 will be cleared for travel in the EU, irrespective of their point of departure. Ahead of Wednesday's Eu- ropean Parliamentary debate and the following vote on the Commission's proposals on the EU Digital Green Certificate, MEP Jeroen, the EPP Group's Spokesman on Civil Liberties, said, "A digital certificate al- lowing people to regain their mobility in Europe will be a major step forward to give per- spective to the tourism sector but also for citizens in border regions who live and work in different countries. "The EU has to prevent mak- ing the same mistakes it made at the start of the pandemic, to make sure we have a united ap- proach, instead of 27 different ones." No extra travel restrictions by member states allowed Speaking at a briefing for journalists on Monday, Tineke Strik (Greens/European Free Alliance) insisted that, "Parlia- ment's position in negotiations now makes it clear that with the Digital Green Certificate, member states will not be al- lowed to impose any further travel restrictions upon entry. They should not only mutual- ly recognise those certificates, but they should also not im- pose any further measures to deny entry to people holding that certificate. "If member states were to not allow entry to certificate-hold- ers, there would be no point to it in the first place," she said. "That would undermine the whole objective of harmoni- sation and freedom of move- ment." At the Commission's request, the EP had agreed to accelerate work on its COVID-19 trav- el proposals, under the urgent procedure (Rule 163), which allows for faster parliamentary scrutiny of Commission's pro- posals, while fully respecting the Parliament's democratic prerogatives. It is now being fast-tracked and a plenary vote on the mat- ter is expected on Wednesday with the aim of having the new system up and running by the end of June. No more colour coding of countries The new rules could present a situation in which a member state may, for example, deny entry to a certificate-holder because they are arriving from what that country labels as a 'red zone' country. In 't Veld explains how, "Par- liament's position is that no additional restrictions can be imposed by member states. It also doesn't make any sense: if COVID-19 and summer travel: power to The power to deny individuals entry into a member state from another because of COVID-19 concerns is being taken out of national hands, and will be replaced with an EU Digital Green Certificate proving travellers have been vaccinated, tested negative or have recovered from COVID-19 and allowing them to travel unrestricted throughout the bloc