Green Pass, EU green light: the news

The EU’s final green light has arrived for the digital EU Covid certificate, or Green Pass: it will come into force on July 1st. Those in possession of it, among travelers within the European Union, will not be subjected to tests and / or quarantines. The Pass will be a right for all EU citizens who qualify: it applies to those who have been vaccinated, for those who have recovered from Covid-19 and for those who undergo a test and are negative. The certificate will be issued free of charge by the national authorities and will be available in digital or paper format with a QR code. In practice, these are three separate certificates for vaccination, recovery and testing. A common EU framework will make certificates compatible and verifiable across the European Union, as well as preventing fraud and falsification.The system will apply from 1 July 2021 and will remain in place for 12 months. The certificate will not be a precondition for free movement and will not be considered a travel document. During the negotiations between the institutions, MEPs obtained an agreement stipulating that EU states will not be able to impose further travel restrictions on certificate holders, such as quarantine, self-isolation or testing, “unless they are necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health “. Scientific evidence will have to be taken into account,” including epidemiological data published by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) “. The measures should be notified, if possible, 48 hours in advance to the other Member States and the Commission, while the public should be given 24 hours’ notice.All EU countries must accept vaccination certificates issued in other Member States for vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency (Ema). It will be up to the Member States to decide whether to also accept certificates for vaccines authorized under national procedures or for vaccines listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use. All personal data must be processed in line with the General Data Protection Regulation. The certificates will be verified offline and no personal data will be stored.