In Italy any concerts one might be wishing to attend these days, particularly if the venue is not an open air one, any sagre or feste including Barga’s famous Fish n Chips one which opened last Friday and will continue until 16^th August, any exhibitions such as the one on American art at Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi which I described at https://longoio3.com/2021/06/05/american-art-comes-to-florence/

and which is closing at the end of this month, any night clubs or dancing venues, indeed any location which involves  several persons getting together in a public hall or venue have this type of notice  attached to them:

‘We remind you that from 6 August, in compliance with current government regulations, entry to the exhibition/concert etc. is allowed only to holders of a valid COVID-19 green certification (Green pass), to holders of a negative test certificate carried out in the 48 hours prior to the visit, to those exempt on the basis of suitable medical certification, to non-European visitors with certification of recovery or vaccination. All certifications must be shown together with an identification document. Children under the age of 12 are exempt.’

There is (naturally) a heated debate continuing with regard to the legality of the green pass in enforcing exclusion of persons without such a pass from most public venues.

Typical of these arguments is the following, (I have underlined the most relevant points. The fact is however that one is hardly in the position to enter into a legal confrontation with a museum keeper or restaurant owner over the issue especially when the fines meted out to them are likely to be considerably higher than those for customers who do not have a green pass (up to euros 4,000 presently).  Moreover, when the covid pandemic is over confrontational customers may still be barred from such venues).

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE GREEN PASS

Decree n. 105/2021 has the force of law. The rules contained therein are therefore immediately operational. It states that access to indoor activities relating to catering services, shows, museums, swimming pools, festivals, fairs, spas and cultural centres, game rooms, as well as public competitions, only for those who have been vaccinated, even with a single dose, or to anyone who has carried out a swab within the previous 48 hours.

The regulations are in effect from August 5, 2021. However, it is essential to highlight that the checking of vaccination or swab documentation is delegated to the owners or managers of the facilities, who will do so in the manner indicated by the decree of the President of the Council of Ministers.

INDICATIONS FOR OWNERS AND MANAGERS

The Prime Minister’s Decree has not yet been issued. This governs the procedures for verifying documents, in cooperation with the provisions of the privacy guarantor.  Therefore, at present, no request is necessary to allow customers access to the interior of the premises. Owners and managers must refrain from making this request because, if they request sensitive data, they could incur criminal complaints and civil damages.

INDICATIONS FOR CUSTOMERS

Given the protocol for verification of the so-called green pass, each person has the right, until there is approval of the aforementioned regulation, to access any place without showing the vaccination certificate or the result of a swab. If a manager in the absence of a regulation on how to request the green pass, should, in any case, request to see it, he must be reminded that, pursuant to art. 3 c. 1 n.4 of law 105/2021, he does not possess this legal authority. The mainstream continues, in fact, erroneously to affirm that the green pass entered into force on August 5, but in practice no restrictive rule is applicable until the presidential decree is issued.

ILLEGALITY OF THE ITALIAN GREEN PASS BECAUSE IT IS CONTRARY TO THE EUROPEAN GREEN PASS

The entry into force of the Italian green pass was on 5 August while, on 12 August, the European green pass will be issued through EU Regulation no. 953/2021. The latter, in article 10, restricts the right to request the green pass except for health and airport authorities. The Italian government has therefore introduced a rule that differs from the European one, resulting in a violation of the law that can be effectively challenged by both managers and customers.

IMPORTANT WARNING ABOUT EXEMPTED CASES

Exempted from the green pass are subjects excluded by age from the vaccination campaign and those because of suitable medical certification issued according to the criteria defined by the circular of the Ministry of Health. Even this circular has not yet been issued, so everyone can access any venue or event without the green pass being verified, as they can declare to be exempt. The owner and / or manager must let them in.

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My own opinion on these matters is quite simple. I don’t want to be excluded from my favourite opera performances, excluded from traditional Italian feste and sagre, excluded from art shows or museums, excluded from heritage sites in a country which holds over half the world’s listed ones, excluded, in short, from the things I love about life in Italy.

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Some people may consider that not having a green pass stigmatized them like those of Jewish extraction who had to wear yellow stars of David during the Nazi regime. However, we all have to show passes at some time in our lives, often more than once a day. Driving licenses, seat belts, National Health cards, disabled car stickers, club entry cards, and, of course, one’s own national passport which is now needed by all EU citizens entering the third country the UK has become because of Brexit (before Italians, for example, only required their ‘carta d’identità’ to enter the UK). What is so gross about adding a green pass to the list? And, when the advantages of such a protection from the ghastly pandemic is greater than any threat of persecution felt by those who refuse to get one, why hesitate?

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Incidentally, religious reasons are not enough to allow one to abstain from showing a green pass.  According to the Roman Catholic church a green pass will not be required “to participate in liturgical celebrations”, but the observance of the rules already in force remain mandatory: masks, spacing between pews, the communion wafer only given in one’s palm and not in one’s mouth, no handshake exchange of peace and empty holy water stoups (in case one was wondering whether there had been some negligence on the priest’s part to refill them…)

I doubt whether there is anyone who is NOT fed up with this cataclysmic world pandemic event which has so disrupted our way of life for far too long. Are we going to let it carry on even longer because of qualms from anti-vaxers? Remember that for every few thousand anti-lock down protesters in the world’s metropolis there are millions in developing countries who are protesting because they can’t get vaccinated (and where graves can’t be dug or funeral pyres built fast enough for Covid victims).  

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