The French parliament approved a bill this morning (26 Juy) requiring citizens to show a COVID pass to access restaurants, bars, trains and planes from August.

Since 21 July, the ‘pass sanitaire’ has been required at venues which accommodate more than 50 people including museums, cinemas and long-distance trains.

The pass —which provides proof that a citizen has been vaccinated, taken a negative COVID test or recovered from the virus —will also become mandatory for children over 12 from August 30.

Italy is also requiring people to show the country’s ‘green pass’ to enter museums, theatres, cinemas, exhibition centres, swimming pools, gyms and stadiums from 6 August.

The pass, which is an extension of the EU Digital Covid Certificate (EUDCC), will not be required on public transport or domestic flights. 

Around 40 million Italian citizens have downloaded the pass so far. Businesses and customers who fail to comply with the green pass system will face fines between €400 and €1,000. 

WHY IT MATTERS

French and Italian governments say that COVID pass requirements are necessary to encourage vaccinations and stop the virus spreading, but campaigners have argued they restrict civil liberties and cause discrimination.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in France, Germany, Greece and the UK over the weekend to demonstrate against governments imposing restrictions on unvaccinated citizens.

THE LARGER CONTEXT 

German minister for special affairs, Helge Braun, said in an interview with the newspaper Bild, that restrictions on entry to restaurants and cinemas may become necessary in Germany if the country faces a fourth wave of COVID.

Currently in England, the Government has recommended businesses such as theatres, nightclubs and sporting venues require customers to show a COVID pass via the NHS app, but has not made the restriction mandatory. However, from the end of September, nightclubs and other large venues only accept visitors who have had both vaccinations. 

Meanwhile, fears have been raised that the NHS COVID pass scheme could be open to exploitation by providing fake test results. There have also been issues with the NHS COVID-19 app, dubbed the 'pingdemic' crisis, as a record number of people have been told to isolate following contact with someone infected.

ON THE RECORD 

UK civil liberties campaign group, Big Brother Watch said in its Access Denied report: “The prospect of internal health passports signals a grave unbalancing of the relationship between not only citizens and the state but citizens and employers, business owners, managers, marshals, and anyone else dressed with authority. 

“It is the first policy for decades that could see segregation imposed throughout the population. The effect of the scheme would be to create a two-tier society where the poorest, the most marginalised, and anyone who does not comply with unprecedented demands for medical interventions could be denied basic socio-economic opportunities and afforded fewer liberties than their neighbours, colleagues and fellow citizens.”