David Sassoli, the president of the institution, announced on Wednesday in Strasbourg that six deputies have been sanctioned for entering the European Parliament without a valid European Covid pass certificate.
The deputies concerned have been sanctioned differently depending on the recurrence of the violation. The sanctions can go from a simple warning to the withdrawal of the daily allowance from two to seven days.
The names of the six elected officials are:
The German Christine Anderson (extreme right)
Lithuanian Stasys Jakeliunas (Greens / ALD)
Croatian Mislav Kolakusic (non-attached member)
Clare Daly (extreme left) and Mick Wallace (GUE / NGL), both of Ireland
Romanian Cristian Terhes (CRE, Eurosceptic conservatives)
« Violating the rules of the health pass to enter parliament is a serious gesture, not only because it violates the rules that we have imposed on ourselves, but also because it endangers the health of deputies and members of parliament and other people present in the Parliament buildings, » Sassoli commented (in French) during his speech.
On 27 October, the Bureau of the European Parliament decided to make access to the institution’s buildings in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg conditional on the presentation of a valid European digital Covid certificate. This decision was contested by a handful of MEPs and members of the staff of the European Parliament.
The situation has changed since then. On 6 November, the bureau made a decision to authorise access to the institution’s buildings to those who can present a negative rapid test as well.
Geraldine Levie