Brussels, Jan. 18, 2021 (Lusa) – The Portuguese presidency of the EU Council recognised on Monday that "there is still a lot of discussion" on Covid-19 vaccine certificates to address all the issues raised by member states and prevent unequal treatment.

The view was expressed today by the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, at the end of an informal videoconference of European Affairs Ministers, which she led from Brussels, with a discussion on coordination in the European response to the Covid-19 pandemic as the main item on the agenda, in preparation for the 'virtual' EU leaders' summit next Thursday.

At the press conference at the end of the first ministerial meeting under the Portuguese presidency in this first half of the year at the Council headquarters in Brussels, Ana Paula Zacarias explained that this meeting was scheduled precisely so that the 27 could "have more information to pass on" to the heads of state and government so that they "can have a truly informed discussion on the 21st" on the response to the current "very difficult situation" of the pandemic in Europe.

While there are aspects of the fight against the pandemic which are unanimous among member states, namely "the need to vaccinate as many people as possible and as quickly as possible", others, such as the vaccination certificate - advocated by the European Commission and Portugal - require further discussion, she acknowledged.

"I think there is still a lot of debate to be done on this issue to address all the issues that member states have raised, in relation to data, in relation to privacy, in relation to the inequalities that can be introduced here. So, we are at the beginning of this discussion," she said.

We need to "discuss many details on what to do with this vaccine certificate, how to do it, how to make it interoperable," whether on a digital platform or not, not least because "the certificate can be proof that you have been vaccinated," but it remains to be seen "what can be done with this proof," not least because "there are still many uncertainties," although, for the time being, "everything seems to be fine with the effectiveness of the vaccines.

Present at the press conference, European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, responsible for inter-institutional relations, pointed out that the Commission was already "working with member states to develop guidelines for the compatibility of vaccination certificates", but assured that, for the time being, the importance of these certificates was linked to "medical purposes" and not yet to the possibility of them functioning as 'passports' for travelling.

"The most important dimension now is to gather the data so that we can use them to evaluate the vaccine's efficiency first of all. We need to make sure that the data can be collected electronically, and on platforms with interoperability, while respecting data protection. Later on the question will come how these certificates can be used," he said.

Underlining that there are citizens who, for health reasons, cannot receive the Covid-19 vaccine and others who simply do not want to be vaccinated, the commissioner assured that everything will be done to prevent "differential treatment" or "limitations on the rights" of these citizens.

"But that will be later. First, we want to ensure that there is a system in place, for medical purposes", he insisted.

Last Friday, during a joint press conference in Lisbon with the President of the European Commission, Prime Minister António Costa argued that the EU should already start the process of having a standardised vaccination certificate between member states, considering it essential to guarantee freedom of movement within the European area.

"There are several ways of harmonising criteria: it can be the vaccination certificate or the negative test. At the meeting with the European Commission, I insisted that the vaccination certificate should be standardised and approved as soon as possible", he said at the joint press conference with Ursula von der Leyen at the Centro Cultural de Belém, after a plenary meeting between the Portuguese Government and the College of European Commissioners.

On the same day, however, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Emergency Committee said it was opposed "for the time being" to the introduction of vaccination certificates against Covid-19 as a condition for allowing travellers to enter a country.

"There are still many fundamental doubts as to the effectiveness of vaccines in reducing virus transmission and vaccines are available only in limited quantities," the WHO Emergency Committee said in its recommendations, adding that proof of vaccination should not exempt other health prevention measures.

This will be one of the issues to be addressed at the EU leaders' videoconference next Thursday to discuss the EU's coordinated response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

ACC/AYLS // AYLS

Lusa