Amid growing pressure from some European Union states and industry associations to ease the current coronavirus travel restrictions, the idea of granting special privileges to those who have been vaccinated is gaining momentum.
The European Commission intends to propose an EU-wide vaccination certificate – the so-called ‘Digital Green Pass’ – that should “gradually enable [Europeans] to move safely in the European Union or abroad – for work or tourism”. EU member states remain divided over the issue, with tourist-destination countries such as Austria, Greece, Italy and Spain pushing the proposal, but with Belgium, France and the Netherlands (where the subject has become a hot topic in the lead-up to the national elections) expressing considerable doubts.
In light of the state of the current vaccination campaign across most of Europe, the Commission’s proposal is premature at best, and highly perilous and profoundly discriminatory at worst.
