France leaves open possibility of health pass until July 31, 2022

The government has today confirmed it wants to maintain the power to impose the Covid health pass until July 31, 2022 – though it stresses that this does not mean that it will.

It comes as a French bill enacting these powers was presented to the Conseil des Ministres, the French cabinet, today. It will have to be debated and passed by parliament before November 15, the date at which the current legal powers expire.

Speaking after a meeting of the Conseil, spokesman Gabriel Attal said: “We make no apology for our refusal to disarm ourselves with regard to the health situation.

“We have to keep at our disposal braking measures which have proven to be effective and which have saved tens of thousands of lives; we have to be able to activate them at any moment.”

However he said this did not necessarily mean the measures would be in place until the final possible date.

The Elysée said in a statement that the proposed law did not relate to extreme measures like curfews and confinement but rather to the health pass and related rules concerning venues welcoming the public.

Any measures taken in coming months would be “strictly proportional to the risks faced, and adapted depending on how the health situation evolves”, it said.

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