The European Commission presented the proposal for a Digital Green Certificate for facilitate and ensure the free movement of travellers within the bloc during the COVID-19 pandemic. The document will provide advance information about the traveller, before he or she arrives at the border post, to identify security or health risks. The initiative is part of a border management system, one of the most advanced and solid in the world.
The idea includes a document as proof that the person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the virus, the agency says. communication. And it details that “it will be available, free of charge, in digital or paper format. It will include a QR code to guarantee 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 will assist Member States in their technical implementation. Member States remain responsible for deciding which public health restrictions can be waived for travellers, but they will have to apply such waivers in the same way to travellers holding a digital green certificate.
On the particular, the Vice President of Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, said: “The Digital Green Certificate offers an EU-wide solution to ensure that its citizens benefit from a harmonized digital tool to support free movement in the EU. Our key objectives are to offer a user-friendly, non-discriminatory and secure tool, which fully respects data protection. And we continue to work towards international convergence with other partners.”
Meanwhile, Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders added: “It is also a opportunity to influence global standards y leading by example based on our European values such as data protection".
This type of health pass will include personal data and a unique identification using a digitally readable code to ensure that the certificate is authentic.
The EC clarified that “The Digital Green Certificate system is a temporary measure which will be suspended once the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the COVID-19 international health emergency.”
Next steps
For its implementation, this proposal needs rapid adoption by the European Parliament and the Council.
In parallel, the EC indicated that Member States must ensure the framework of trust and technical standards agreed upon in the health network. eHealth, 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 have the technical work and the proposal up and running in the coming months," the European Union institution concludes.
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