Digital Covid certificates to allow
free movement in Europe are one step closer after European Parliament (EP) and EU Council
negotiators reached a provisional deal on Thursday to introduce them.
The certificate will be available in either digital
or paper format and will attest that a person has been vaccinated against
coronavirus, has had a recent negative test result or has recovered from the
infection.
Member states must accept vaccination certificates
issued in other member states for persons inoculated with a vaccine authorised
for use in the EU by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) (currently
Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen). It will be up to the member
states to decide whether they also accept vaccination certificates that have
been authorised by other Member States following national authorisation
procedures or for vaccines listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for
emergency use.
A common EU framework will allow member states to issue certificates that will then be accepted in other EU countries.
The deal says that member states should not impose additional travel
restrictions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, such as quarantine,
self-isolation or testing, “unless they are necessary and proportionate to
safeguard public health”. Available scientific evidence, “including
epidemiological data published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention
and Control (ECDC)” should be taken into account. Such measures should be
notified to other member states and the Commission at the latest 48 hours in
advance.
The EU digital Covid Certificate
regulation should be in place for 12 months, the EP said. The certificate will
not be a precondition to exercise the right to free movement and will not be
considered a travel document.
The European Commission has agreed to assign at least €100 million to setting
up the scheme.
Chair of the civil liberties committee and
rapporteur Juan Fernando López Aguilar said: “The EU digital Covid
certificate will restore free movement within the EU, as member states start
lifting restrictions to free movement across Europe. This agreement is the
first step to get the Schengen area back on track.”
If approved, the scheme should be given the green light in early June.