Coronavirus: Parliament authorizes the use of the health pass until July 31, 2022 – France Bleu

Parliament authorized, this Friday, the use of the health pass until July 31, 2022. The National Assembly has indeed definitively voted a version of the “health vigilance” bill which corresponds to what the government wanted.

The deputies thus put an end to a heated parliamentary debate: the validated text returned to the objections of the Senate dominated by the right, which had profoundly changed it, and which ended up rejecting it out of hand Thursday evening, via a “preliminary question”. The government can therefore extend the use of the health pass until that date, if it wishes.

On behalf of the government, Secretary of State for the Family Adrien Taquet stressed, at the opening of the debates in the morning, that “the provisions of the text are fully justified by the health situation and its development in the coming months”. The rapporteur Jean-Pierre Pont (LREM), called for “do not let your guard down” and underlined that the WHO feared “500,000 deaths in Europe within four months”.

The oppositions demanded a new vote before the elections

During the debates, oppositions from both right and left denounced this project considered as a “blank check” which “spans” the elections presidential and legislative. A motion to reject the text presented by France Insoumise, supported by opposition from all sides, was rebutted -71 votes for, 119 against – at the start of the session.

The main dispute concerned the possibility of resorting to “braking” measures, foremost among which is the health pass, until July 31. Rather than going until the summer, the Senate and the oppositions in the National Assembly pleaded for the date of February 28, which forced the executive to return before the elections in front of the chambers.

A new debate promised for mid-February

The government for its part promised that a parliamentary debate on the subject would take place around February 15. The majority also stressed thata possible return to a state of health emergency (confinement, curfew …), lifted last June, would be subject to the approval of parliamentarians.

Another contentious provision, the bill allows school directors and secondary school principals to learn about the vaccination status of students. According to the government, a measure intended to facilitate in particular screening and vaccination campaigns in schools, but denounced by the opposition as a “breach in medical confidentiality”. The bill also extends the state of emergency in Guyana and Martinique to December 31.

Republicans and the left have already planned appeals to the Constitutional Council.