The European Commission today proposed to create a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate safe free movement inside the European Union (EU) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Digital Green Certificate will serve as proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result or recovered from COVID-19. It will be available, free of charge, in digital or paper format, and in the official language or languages of the issuing Member State as well as English. It will include a QR code to ensure security and authenticity of the certificate.

The European Commission will build a gateway to ensure all certificates can be verified across the EU and support Member States in the technical implementation of certificates. Member States remain responsible to decide which public health restrictions can be waived for travellers but will have to apply such waivers in the same way to travellers holding a Digital Green Certificate.

European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, noted: "With the Digital Green Certificate, we are taking a European approach to ensure EU citizens and their family members can travel safely and with minimum restrictions this summer. The Digital Green Certificate will not be a pre-condition to free movement and it will not discriminate in any way. A common EU-approach will not only help us to gradually restore free movement within the EU and avoid fragmentation. It is also a chance to influence global standards and lead by example based on our European values like data protection".

In terms of personal data, the certificates will include a limited set of information such as name, date of birth, date of issuance, relevant information about vaccine / test / recovery and a unique identifier of the certificate. This data can be checked only to confirm and verify the authenticity and validity of certificates.

The Digital Green Certificate will be valid in all EU Member States and open for Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway as well as Switzerland. Thecertificate should be issued to EU citizens and their family members, regardless of their nationality. It should also be issued to non-EU nationals who reside in the EU and to visitors who have the right to travel to other Member States.

The European Commission stressed that the Digital Green Certificate system is a temporary measure. It will be suspended once the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the COVID-19 international health emergency.

To be ready before the summer, this proposal needs a swift adoption by the European Parliament and the Council. In parallel, Member States must implement the trust framework and technical standards, agreed in the eHealth network, to ensure timely implementation of the Digital Green Certificate, their interoperability and full compliance with personal data protection. The aim is to have the technical work and the proposal completed in the coming months.

Reactions

Europe's aviation sector welcomed this proposal for a Digital Green Certificate system. Industry associations Airlines for Europe (A4E), ACI EUROPE (Airports Council International), ASD (Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe), CANSO, European Regions Airline Association (ERA), and International Air Transport Association (IATA) confirmed in a statement that they view these certificates as a key tool to facilitate a safe and efficient resumption of travel and tourism in Europe.

They called on the EU Council and the European Parliament to urgently approve the Commission proposal and for all EU States to immediately begin preparations for their implementation. The associations urged EU governments to ensure the certificates are operational in time for the peak summer travel months.

That being said, the aviation sector warned that a more detailed plan (a roadmap) was needed to energise economic recovery and restore freedom of movement as soon as governments are able to reopen their borders. 

The leaders of the associations said: "We welcome the European Commission's adoption of the proposal for a Digital Green Certificate. The EC has our full support, and we call on the European Parliament and Council to work on its swift adoption via an emergency procedure. We need a clear path out of this crippling situation, and appeal once again to the EU Member States to implement common solutions and plan ahead in a fully coordinated and aligned way. We repeat: a safe restart of air travel is possible, and we can save both lives and livelihoods – but we need the EU to lead from the front. States must now do their part by acting in a coordinated manner, to avert yet another patchwork solution of fragmented agreements borne out of frustration and necessity".