The European Council will debate introducing a standard vaccination certificate for Europe this Thursday, 21 January, after the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for harmonisation on the measures across the continent.
In an open letter to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, as well as the heads of state and government of the European Union, Mitsotakis wrote, “Ensuring the quickest possible re-establishment of freedom of movement between Member States, but also with third countries is, of necessity, a fundamental priority for us all.
“That is why in Greece we have moved quickly to put in place procedures for facilitating the freedom of movement of persons who have been vaccinated against Covid-19. A key step in this regard is to establish a standardised certificate, which will prove that an individual has been successfully vaccinated.”
He added: “While we are not going to make vaccination compulsory or a prerequisite for travel, persons who have been vaccinated should be free to travel. This will also provide a positive incentive for ensuring that citizens are encouraged to undergo vaccination, which is the only way to ensure a return to normality.”
IATA has called on the EU to support the initiative.
Director general Alexandre de Juniac said, ”Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ initiative should be urgently adopted by the Commission and all member states. Vaccination is a fundamental key to safely reopening borders and stimulating economic recovery.
"A pan-European mutually recognized vaccination certificate would be an important step towards giving governments the confidence to safely open their borders, and passengers the confidence to fly without the barrier of quarantine.”
He added, “Progress on eliminating or reducing quarantines can be made with testing protocols. But what we need now is for governments to start working together much more effectively. Unilateral government actions were able to quickly dismantle global connectivity. Re-building will need coordination.”