Standards for Including Scientific Evidence in Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: The Case of EU Covid Certificates Scheme

Compared to previous secondary legislation, Article 11 of the Digital Covid Certificates regulations was remarkably explicit in its requirement for Member States to consider scientific evidence when restricting free movement for the certificate holders. However, we argue in this Article that the reg...

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Main Authors: Danaja Fabcic Povse, Paul Quinn, Herwig C.H. Hofmann, Felix Pflücke
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-03-01
Series:European Journal of Risk Regulation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1867299X24000515/type/journal_article
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author Danaja Fabcic Povse
Paul Quinn
Herwig C.H. Hofmann
Felix Pflücke
author_facet Danaja Fabcic Povse
Paul Quinn
Herwig C.H. Hofmann
Felix Pflücke
author_sort Danaja Fabcic Povse
collection DOAJ
description Compared to previous secondary legislation, Article 11 of the Digital Covid Certificates regulations was remarkably explicit in its requirement for Member States to consider scientific evidence when restricting free movement for the certificate holders. However, we argue in this Article that the regulations achieved a partial codification of the existent case law of the CJEU rather than imposing any additional requirements. Namely, the case law had already required Member States to rely on scientific evidence that reflects the international consensus, that is relevant and up to date, and that the evidence had to demonstrate by means of a risk assessment a real risk to the public health. We also discuss these findings in the light of the proportionality and precautionary principles and suggest that understanding the evolution of the EU legal order’s evidentiary requirements is useful in the light of the legislator’s claim of objective and rational policy-making procedures in public health and other crises.
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spelling doaj-art-292cabb4ef024d558de9ca5f978e49862025-08-20T13:03:13ZengCambridge University PressEuropean Journal of Risk Regulation1867-299X2190-82492025-03-011622824110.1017/err.2024.51Standards for Including Scientific Evidence in Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: The Case of EU Covid Certificates SchemeDanaja Fabcic Povse0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6263-5373Paul Quinn1Herwig C.H. HofmannFelix PflückeHealth and Ageing Law Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, BelgiumHealth and Ageing Law Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, BelgiumCompared to previous secondary legislation, Article 11 of the Digital Covid Certificates regulations was remarkably explicit in its requirement for Member States to consider scientific evidence when restricting free movement for the certificate holders. However, we argue in this Article that the regulations achieved a partial codification of the existent case law of the CJEU rather than imposing any additional requirements. Namely, the case law had already required Member States to rely on scientific evidence that reflects the international consensus, that is relevant and up to date, and that the evidence had to demonstrate by means of a risk assessment a real risk to the public health. We also discuss these findings in the light of the proportionality and precautionary principles and suggest that understanding the evolution of the EU legal order’s evidentiary requirements is useful in the light of the legislator’s claim of objective and rational policy-making procedures in public health and other crises.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1867299X24000515/type/journal_articleCovid-19 pandemicfree movementscientific evidence
spellingShingle Danaja Fabcic Povse
Paul Quinn
Herwig C.H. Hofmann
Felix Pflücke
Standards for Including Scientific Evidence in Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: The Case of EU Covid Certificates Scheme
European Journal of Risk Regulation
Covid-19 pandemic
free movement
scientific evidence
title Standards for Including Scientific Evidence in Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: The Case of EU Covid Certificates Scheme
title_full Standards for Including Scientific Evidence in Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: The Case of EU Covid Certificates Scheme
title_fullStr Standards for Including Scientific Evidence in Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: The Case of EU Covid Certificates Scheme
title_full_unstemmed Standards for Including Scientific Evidence in Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: The Case of EU Covid Certificates Scheme
title_short Standards for Including Scientific Evidence in Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: The Case of EU Covid Certificates Scheme
title_sort standards for including scientific evidence in restrictions on freedom of movement the case of eu covid certificates scheme
topic Covid-19 pandemic
free movement
scientific evidence
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1867299X24000515/type/journal_article
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