France: Restaurant owners refuse to verify the identities of their customers

In France, restaurant owners do not ask customers for ID when they scan it health pass. The government is considering asking them to verify the customers’ identities. Restaurant owners oppose this. One association suggests adding a photo to the health card to detect fraud.

The French Minister of Health, Olivier Veran, was in favor of the identity of the restaurant owners. He assured that he wants to put in the future text of the law the possibility for the professionals to check the identity during the presentation of the health card, in order to make sure that they are not hosting a usurper.

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A position that makes professionals react. “We have the impression that we are police officers. “The basis of our work is to please people, but here we are in a situation where we have to check the identity of our customers,” said Fabian Moragon, Vice President of the Hérault Hospitality Trades and Industries Union.

“At the airports, they check the identity in addition to the health pass, but they already did it before the crisis. We are not authorized to do so as restaurants. “The question is not why it can not be in the law,” Xavier Denamir, a Paris-based restaurant, confirmed to BFMTV on Wednesday, adding: “We are not swearing, we are not from the police.”

“There is a problem with legitimacy,” said Uber Jean, president of Umih Catering.

Professionals are giving the money to the police, who have been asked by the government to step up checks on bars and restaurants. Police unions are worried that police will be assigned to this mission at the end of the year. “I also remind you that there is an event that will happen on December 31 with all the episodes that it can cause and that mobilizes a lot of staff. “The equation is getting complicated,” said Stanislas Gondon, a spokesman for the Alliance.

The Umih association offers another solution: adding a photo to the health card. Currently, when a professional scans the QR code of a health passport, they can only access their first name, first name and date of birth.

The government has not yet decided on the matter. This summer it was already reported that they would ask the restaurants to check the identity of their customers, before the plan was abandoned, due to reprimands from professionals.