The Austrian National Council cleared the way for the so-called green pass on Wednesday. In the future, this will play a major role in travel, but also domestically in terms of access restrictions.

The reactions to the “Privilege Pass” are mixed. Some opposition parties have criticized the state for collecting far too much data and, on top of that, people who do not want to be vaccinated or tested are classified as second class. The government, however, is convinced that this evidence can restore freedom of travel.

“Travel freely again at last. With the Green Pass we get our basic freedoms back, ”said State Secretary Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) on the decision in the National Council. “The Green Pass is coming all over Europe, so further travel facilitation is in sight. This is how the green admission pass becomes a green passport! The quarantine measures are gradually being relaxed, which is crucial for a strong summer season. We have promised the rapid implementation of the Green Pass, we will keep this promise! Because we all desperately want to return to normal when we travel. The Green Pass brings this freedom of travel and security. " 

"We will be able to use the digital Green Pass a few weeks before the Europe-wide start," said Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) in the run-up to the National Council decision. “From the beginning of June, it will be possible to use a digital green passport to prove whether you have been tested, vaccinated or recovered on your mobile phone. This also makes it easier for companies to check, as the evidence will be equipped with QR codes in the future. Thus it is exactly the right instrument to restart our social life with the openings - user-friendly and while maintaining the highest data protection requirements ”.

The government member also stressed that there is no obligation to participate in the Green Pass. In the interview she said: “In addition to this new digital verification option, the previous paper verification will of course continue to be valid.”

SPÖ wants to have prevented “data octopus” - FPÖ completely negative

The opposition, on the other hand, is quite mixed. “Our main task here in Parliament is that we work together to find solutions. Quite a botch was presented at the Green Pass, which was a hodgepodge of highly sensitive areas that were mixed up in terms of data protection. The SPÖ said, let's see that we get it on track and repair the construction sites that the project has together. Just grumbling about how incompetent the government is doesn't get us any further, ”said SPÖ health spokesman Philip Kucher in his speech at the special session on the Green Pass. “The Minister of Health then withdrew the draft after the expert opinion that we had requested because he realized that it would not have worked that way. The SPÖ was then able to achieve the decisive improvements in the law in negotiations ”.

“The introduction of the 'green passport' in Austria is turning the old normal on its head. From now on you are no longer healthy if you are not sick, but are healthy when you have proven it - that is simply a reversal of the burden of proof. With this amendment to the law, the turquoise-green federal government creates obedient citizens who play along well and regularly submit their health status. The next step will probably be that all those who want to evade the compulsory vaccination have to pay for their compulsory test themselves. Quasi as a punitive action, possibly also in the ordination of Minister Mückstein, at the exorbitant prices that have just become known, ”explains FPÖ social spokeswoman Dagmar Berlakowitsch.