The EU is united and has unanimously approved the issue of a digital vaccination passport to enable entry into Europe.
The Digital Green Certificate will be proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result via PCR or a rapid antigen test or recovered from COVID-19. It will be available, free of charge. The hope is that this will kickstart the summer holiday season for the whole continent.
There will be a €100 million to fund affordable Covid testing.
This comes on the heels of a unanimous decision last week by EU ambassadors to approve opening borders to fully vaccinated holidaymakers from Britain. On top of the rollout of this scheme, there will be a €100 million to fund affordable Covid testing.
The passport, which will include a QR code to ensure security and authenticity of the certificate should be available and in use by 1 July.
The European Commission said :
“This agreement has been reached in record time just two months after the Commission’s proposal.”
EC President Ursula von der Leyen said.
“The EU Digital Covid Certificate is free of charge, secure and accessible to all. It will cover vaccination, test and recovery offering different options to citizens.We are delivering on our commitment to have it up and running before the summer.”
Von der Leyen said the digital vaccination passport will protect the user’s personal data and can be used digitally or in a paper-based format. Several countries testing it in early June before the EU-wide rollout on 1 July.
At the same time, member nations will be allowed to put into place their own restrictions that are ‘necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health.’
It is expected that the digital passport will be suspended once the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the COVID-19 international health emergency.