Europeans should have a white leg to travel this summer.
The European Commission will present this Wednesday March 17 a "
digital green certificate
" to allow Europeans to travel freely this summer.
On the form, the certificate should have a QR code to present from your smartphone or on a sheet of paper.
Scheduled for implementation in June, this certificate should be the subject of lively debates in Brussels, because not all member countries are so far convinced.
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The European Commission therefore wants to put in place through this certificate
"digital proof that a person has been vaccinated, has cured of Covid-19 or has received negative results in his test".
"The aim of this certificate is the free movement of citizens between Member States"
, continues the European Commission.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has already approved such a project, provided that the vaccines presented on the certificate are among those authorized in Europe: Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca / Oxford, and Johnson & Johnson.
The Russian vaccine and Chinese vaccines therefore cannot a priori be recognized on the "
green certificate
".
Technical challenge
Europe will work
"in close collaboration with the States
" to
"identify the technical solutions which will allow this solution to be put in place quickly", "to ensure that the authenticity of these certificates can be quickly proven throughout the Union. European
”, and
“ allow mutual recognition of the certificate throughout the EU ”
.
By June, the European Union will have to put in place a system that is "
extremely vigilant in terms of data protection
".
A major challenge in such a short time.
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The Commission plans to provide a European framework around this certificate, but it should not constrain the member countries but give them a common basis on which to work before each sets the contours on its own soil.
It will also be up to each state to "
verify that such a passport can be used in a secure manner
" on its soil.
If the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that such a tool would "
make life easier for Europeans
" and "
gradually allow them to move safely in the EU and outside, for work or for tourism
”, discussions between Member States are likely to be heated.
Indeed, the countries of the South, very dependent on tourism, such as Greece and Spain, have repeated over and over again their desire to put such tools in place since June, but in France or in Germany, the reluctance are larger.
Read also: Covid-19: Is the European Union preparing a vaccination passport or a health certificate?
The European Commission also specifies that it is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to make it possible to have its certificate recognized all over the world.