The Diplomat
The Secretary of State of the European Union, Juan González-Barba, participated yesterday by video conference in the EU General Affairs Council during which he defended before his European counterparts the mutual recognition of national vaccination certificates against COVID-19 in order to facilitate cross-border mobility.
During the meeting, which served to prepare the next informal videoconference of the members of the European Council, scheduled for this coming Thursday, the ministers and deputy ministers of European Affairs exchanged views on the coordination measures for combating the pandemic, the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU and the Conference on the Future of Europe. Yesterday’s was the first meeting of European Affairs Ministers under the Portuguese Presidency.
They also discussed the measures taken by Member States against COVID-19, the emergence of new variants of the virus, the status of vaccination campaigns, the production and distribution of vaccines and the cooperation of the EU and its Member States with third countries in this field.
During his speech, González-Barba reiterated Spain’s commitment to the mechanism for centralised purchases of vaccines by the EU and said that Spain fully supports the EU’s efforts to improve coordination of vaccine donation to third countries, which should be done under the leadership of the WHO and the COVAX initiative.
The Secretary of State also called for taking advantage of the opportunity offered by vaccination to facilitate cross-border mobility, for which he advocated the mutual recognition of national vaccination certificates. Based on these and other initiatives to guarantee mobility within the Schengen area, “Spain has presented an initiative in the OECD to facilitate mobility between the Member States of this organisation”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled yesterday in a press release.
Last week, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proposed the adoption of a “vaccination certificate” that would be accepted by all EU Member States. The proposal, which was presented in a letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the other European leaders, aims to facilitate the free movement of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 by issuing a standardised certificate.
The Spanish Government has welcomed this proposal, which it considers to be “very much in line” with the international mobility strategy presented in mid-December by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), but has warned that it would make it necessary to establish mutual recognition of the vaccines at international level.
