"Free movement is a fundamental freedom of EU citizens which must be restored. To do so, we need to take the vaccine and get a certificate to be able to travel safely and meet each other. This is also key for economic recovery." Birgitta Sacrédeus, Member of Dalarna Regional Council made these remarks during a discussion on the draft resolution of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) on free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic (Digital Green Certificate) and the scaling up of vaccine production.
The resolution insists that a common approach to verifying and certifying people's status in relation to COVID-19 is paramount to ensure the efficiency, effectiveness, 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. The resolution stresses that local and regional authorities (LRAs) have an important role in promoting the certificate among its inhabitants and to highlight the added value of the EU in this context. It calls on the European Commission to engage with the CoR in a joint campaign effort. The EPP-CoR Group welcomed the European Parliament's position to amend the title of the certificate to "EU COVID-19 Certificate" in order to increase the understanding of the usefulness of the certificate, thereby facilitating the promotion of it among citizens.
The resolution 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. It 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.
Background
Following the input given by the EU heads of State and Government, the European Commission presented in March a proposal to create a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate the safe free movement of citizens within the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 14 April the Council of the EU agreed its negotiating mandate on the proposal, while the European Parliament adopted its negotiating mandate on 29 April. The negotiations between the two institutions started this week, the next trilogue will take place on 11 May. The aim is to reach an agreement ahead of the summer tourist season.