Activities of Cláudia MONTEIRO DE AGUIAR related to 2022/0031(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Amending Regulation (EU) 2021/953 on a framework for the issuance, verification and acceptance of interoperable COVID-19 vaccination, test and recovery certificates (EU Digital COVID Certificate) to facilitate free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic
Amendments (5)
Amendment 11 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) As a result, it cannot be excluded that Member States continue to require Union citizens exercising their right to free movement to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination, test or recovery beyond 30 June 2022, the date when Regulation (EU) 2021/953 is set to expire. It is thus important to avoid that, in the event that certain restrictions to free movement based on public health are still in place after 30 June 2022, Union citizens and their family members are deprived of the possibility to make use of their EU Digital COVID Certificates, which are an effective, secure and privacy-preserving way of proving one’s COVID-19 status. At the same time, given that any restrictions to the free movement of persons within the Union put in place to limit the spread of SARS-CoV- 2, including the requirement to present EU Digital COVID Certificates, should be lifted as soon as the epidemiological situation allows, the extension of the application of Regulation (EU) 2021/953 should be limited to 12 months. In addition, the extension of that Regulation should not be understood as requiring Member States, in particular those that lift domestic public health measures, to maintain or impose free movement restrictions, or to justify the temporary reintroduction of controls at internal borders. The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union delegated to the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/953 should be equally extended. It is necessary to ensure that the EU Digital COVID Certificate system can adapt to scientific progress in containing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amendment 13 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8 a (new)
Recital 8 a (new)
(8a) The EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) system has proven to be the only functioning COVID-19 certificate system operational at the international level on a large scale. As a result, EUDCC has gained increasing global significance and contributed to addressing the pandemic at the international level, by facilitating safe international travel and economic recovery. By 25 February 2022, 35 non-EU countries and territories are connected to the EUDCC system, with more expected to join in the future. Nevertheless, Regulation (EU) 2021/953 only obliges Member States to accept the EU Digital COVID Certificates issued for vaccines that have been granted a marketing authorisation by the European Medicines Agency. It does not, therefore, include most of the vaccines that are currently administered around the world, including those that have completed the WHO emergency use listing procedure. This undermines the role of the EUDCC system as one of the key digital solutions to restore international mobility and the de-facto global standard. Many of the vaccines that have completed the WHO Emergency Use Listing procedure have not applied, and are unlikely to do so in the future, for marketing authorisation to EMA or a competent Member State authority simply because the developers do not intend to put those vaccines on the EU market. In many cases, the same vaccines administered around the EU and listed by Regulation (EU) 2021/953 are available under a different trade name in other countries, and therefore fall out of the scope of this Regulation. This also applies to some of the vaccines that the EU is helping deliver under the COVAX scheme.
Amendment 19 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point a a (new)
Regulation (EU) 2021/953
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1
(aa) In Article 5 paragraph 5, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: " 5. Where Member States accept proof of vaccination in order to waive restrictions to free movement put in place, in accordance with Union law, to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2, they shall also accept, under the same conditions, vaccination certificates issued by other Member States in accordance with this Regulation for a COVID-19 vaccines that hasve been granted a marketing authorisation pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 726/2004. (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021R0953&from=EN), or vaccines that have completed the WHO emergency use listing procedure. " Or. en
Amendment 24 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
Regulation (EU) 2021/953
Article 11 – paragraph 1
Article 11 – paragraph 1
(5a) Article 11, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: "1. Without prejudice to Member States’ competence to impose restrictions on grounds of public health, where Member States accept vaccination certificates, test certificates indicating a negative result or certificates of recovery, they shall refrain from imposing additional restrictions to free movement, such as additional travel-related testing for SARS CoV-2 infection or travel-related quarantine or self-isolation, unless they are necessary and proportionate for the purpose of safeguarding public health in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, also taking into account available scientific evidence, includingtaking into consideration epidemiological data published by the ECDC on the basis of Recommendation (EU) 2020/1475. (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021R0953&from=EN)" Or. en
Amendment 27 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
Regulation (EU) 2021/953
Article 11 – paragraph 3
Article 11 – paragraph 3