European leaders, who are under pressure to speed up vaccination campaigns against the coronavirus in Europe, met during a virtual summit Thursday to discuss some of the continent's most pressing issues. 

The summit comes a year after the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with most of the 27 European Union countries witnessing second or third waves of infections.

The Europeans want to be prepared, especially in the event that it becomes necessary to prepare second-generation vaccines capable of immunization against mutated versions of the virus, and Brussels has promised to speed up the process of giving the green light.

Because of this fear, ten member states of the Union imposed restrictions on their borders. The European Commission urged six of them to offer explanations about the movement restrictions, which it considered exaggerated, expressing fear that they might affect supply chains.

Among them are Belgium, which bans unnecessary travel, and Germany, which imposes restrictions on crossing its borders from Czechia, Slovakia and the Austrian province of Tyrol.

France announced Thursday that it will request PCR tests for non-work-related trips for people crossing borders from Germany to the Moselle region.

A senior European official said, "Coordination is complicated because officials consider the priority to be to protect their citizens," and he expected "intense discussions" during the meeting.

- 'My dispute' -

The European Union member states promised to adopt "proportionate" and "non-discriminatory" procedures, but the mutations changed that plan.

A diplomat said that these modifications "provoke legitimate tension and caution, and for a part of governments, closing borders is the most appropriate response,"  indicating that the summit will remind countries of the common rules.

The draft final recommendations, seen by Agence France-Presse, stated that European leaders want to reaffirm  "ensuring that goods and services flow without any obstacles within the single market."

With regard to the European certificate of vaccination aimed at facilitating travel, leaders can work to "advocate a common approach" on its standards and model but without specific procedures, according to several sources.

No decision is expected regarding the European vaccination certificate, which aims to facilitate travel within the European Union, according to what various sources have reported, especially that vaccination campaigns remain slow due to problems with the delivery of doses from laboratories, although Brussels expects to vaccinate 70 percent of adults in the European Union by mid-September.

"It makes no sense whatsoever. What are we going to do with it? Attending a concert or taking a plane to spend a vacation in Spain?" It poses a problem when 95 percent of the population has not received the vaccine. "

He indicated that it has not yet been confirmed that obtaining the vaccine prevents transmission of the infection to other people.

- The vaccine passport -

But if Paris and Berlin are concerned about the gap between a privileged minority and the rest, other countries, especially those most dependent on tourism, want the vaccination certificate to be adopted quickly in order to save the summer season, such as in Greece.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz called for a "green passport" to allow "unrestricted" travel and entry to "restaurants," warning that in the absence of a European solution, a "project will be launched at the national level."

According to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, several countries, including his country, Austria and Greece, "agreed to the proposal of a green passport, which will provide comfort to all those who received the vaccine (...) and will be able to return to normal life."

Greece and Cyprus concluded a tourism agreement with the Israeli Occupation that allows its vaccinated citizens to travel without restrictions thanks to a "green passport."

State and government leaders will also study vaccine supplies for other countries. French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that Europe and the United States "as soon as possible" provide 13 million doses of vaccines to the African continent, in order to be able to vaccinate 6.5 million medical personnel.

In Brussels, sources indicate that member states are free, on a voluntary level, to transfer their doses to other countries in parallel to the international COVAX mechanism supported by the European Union. This mechanism provided the first free vaccines to Ghana on Wednesday.

However, a diplomat said that "making big promises to other countries while we are not succeeding in accelerating the vaccination of our citizens is not on the table."

European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted that "border closures by some member states harm the entire single market," calling for the restrictions to be lifted as soon as possible.