Today the European Commission proposes a Digital Green Certificate Facilitating safe movement within the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Digital Green Certificate is evidence that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result, or recovered from COVID-19. It will be available for free in digital or paper form. It will contain a QR code to ensure the security and authenticity of the certificate. The Commission will set up a gateway to ensure that all certificates can be verified across the EU and support Member States with the technical implementation of certificates. Member States remain responsible for deciding which public health restrictions can be lifted for travelers, but must apply these exemptions in the same way to travelers who have a digital green certificate.

Vice President for Values ​​and Transparency, Věra Jourová On this: “The Digital Green Certificate offers an EU-wide solution to ensure that EU citizens benefit from a harmonized digital instrument to support free movement in the EU. This is good news to aid recovery. Our main goal is to offer a user-friendly, non-discriminatory and secure tool that fully respects data protection. And we continue to work on international convergence with other partners. “

Justice Commissioner, Didier Reynders, said: “With the Digital Green Certificate we are taking a European approach to ensure that EU citizens and their family members can travel safely with minimal restrictions this summer. The Digital Green Certificate is not a requirement for freedom of movement and does not discriminate in any way. A common EU approach will not only help us to gradually restore freedom of movement within the EU and avoid fragmentation. It is also an opportunity to influence global standards and lead by example based on our European values ​​such as data protection. “

Key elements of the regulation proposed today by the Commission:

Accessible and secure certificates for all EU citizens:

The Digital Green Certificate covers three types of certificates – Vaccination certificates, test certificates (NAAT / RT-PCR test or rapid antigen test) and certificates for people who have recovered from COVID-19.

The certificates are issued in digital form or on paper. Both have a QR code that contains the necessary key information as well as a digital signature to ensure that the certificate is authentic.

The commission will build a gate Assisting Member States in developing software that allows authorities to verify all certificate signatures across the EU. No personal data of the certificate holder is transmitted via the gateway or stored by the verifying Member State.

The certificates are available free of chargee and in the official language or languages ​​of the issuing Member State and in English.

Non-discrimination:

All vaccinated and unvaccinated people should benefit from a Digital Green Certificate when traveling to the EU. In order to prevent discrimination against people who are not vaccinated, the Commission proposes to create not only an interoperable vaccination certificate but also COVID-19 test certificates and certificates for people who have recovered from COVID-19.

Equal rights for travelers with the Digital Green Certificate –If Member States were to accept proof of vaccination in order to waive certain public health restrictions such as testing or quarantine, they would have to accept vaccination certificates issued under the Digital Green Certificate system under the same conditions. This obligation would be limited to vaccines that have been received EU-wide authorization for placing on the marketHowever, Member States may decide to accept other vaccines in addition.

Notification of other actions – If a Member State continues to require holders of a Digital Green Certificate to quarantine or test, it must notify the Commission and all other Member States and explain the reasons for such action.

Essential information and secure personal data only:

The certificates contain limited information such as name, date of birth, date of issue, relevant information about vaccine / test / recovery and a unique identifier of the certificate. This data can only be checked in order to confirm and check the authenticity and validity of certificates.

The Digital Green certificate is valid in all EU member states and open to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The Digital Green Certificate should be issued to EU citizens and their family members regardless of their nationality. It should also be issued to non-EU residents residing in the EU and visitors who have the right to travel to other Member States.

The Digital Green Certificate System is a temporary measure. It will be suspended as soon as the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the international health emergency COVID-19.

Next Steps

In order to be ready before summer, this proposal needs to be quickly adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.

At the same time, the Member States must implement this Trust framework and technical standards agreed in the eHealth network to ensure the timely implementation of the Digital Green Certificate, its interoperability and full compliance with the protection of personal data. The aim is to complete the technical work and the proposal in the coming months.

background

In order to comply with the measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, travelers in the EU were asked to provide various documents such as medical certificates, test results or explanations. The lack of standardized formats has resulted in travelers having problems moving within the EU. There have also been reports of fraudulent or forged documents.

In their statement after the informal video conference on February 25 and 26, 2021The members of the European Council called for the continuation of a common approach to vaccination certification. The Commission has worked with Member States in the EU eHealth network, a voluntary network that connects national eHealth authorities in preparing for interoperability of vaccination certificates. Policies were passed on January 27th and updated March 12th, and the Trust framework The draft was agreed on March 12, 2021.

The Commission today adopted a legislative proposal that creates a common framework for a Digital Green Certificate. The Commission has also adopted a complementary proposal to ensure that the Digital Green Certificate is also issued to non-EU citizens residing in Member States or Schengen Associated States, as well as visitors who have the right to travel to other Member States. For legal reasons, separate proposals for citizens and non-EU citizens are required. There is no difference in the treatment of citizens and eligible non-EU citizens for the purposes of the certificates.