The European Commission reports that yesterday it adopted a legislative proposal establishing a common framework for a digital green certificate. In order to be ready before the summer, this proposal must be quickly adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. With this digital green certificate, travelers should be able to travel through Europe again this summer during the corona pandemic. The green certificate is therefore a temporary measure. With the digital certificate, a person will be able to prove that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, have a negative test result or have recovered from COVID-19. It will be available for free, in digital form or on paper. It will contain a QR code to ensure the security and authenticity of the certificate.
Vera Jourova, Vice-President for Values and Transparency: “The digital green certificate offers an EU-wide solution to ensure that EU citizens can benefit from a harmonized digital tool to support free movement in the EU. This is a good message to support recovery. Our main objective is to provide a user-friendly, non-discriminatory and secure tool that fully respects data protection. We will also continue to work on international convergence with other partners. ”
Member States remain responsible for deciding which public health restrictions travelers can be exempted from, but will have to apply these exemptions in the same way to all travelers holding a digital green certificate. The Commission will set up a gateway and support Member States in developing software that will allow authorities to verify all signatures of certificates across the EU. The personal data of certificate holders do not pass through the gateway and are not kept by the verifying Member State. All people should therefore be able to use the green certificate when traveling in the EU. If a Member State decides to apply other obligations, such as mandatory quarantine for travelers, they must notify the Europese Commissie and all other Member States.
Didier reynders, Commissioner for Justice: “With the digital green certificate, we are taking a European approach to ensure that EU citizens and their family members can travel safely and with minimal restrictions this summer. The digital green certificate will not be a condition for free movement and it will not discriminate in any way. A common EU approach will not only help us gradually restore free movement within the EU and avoid fragmentation. It also provides an opportunity to influence global standards and lead by example based on our European values such as data protection. ”
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