EU to propose law on COVID-19 certificates in March

BRUSSELS

The European Commission will propose this month an EU law on COVID-19 vaccine certificates, the head of the bloc’s executive body announced on Monday.

“We’ll present this month a legislative proposal for a Digital Green Pass,” Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter.

The common COVID-19 certificate system, which is expected to be operational as early as June, aims at providing “proof that a person has been vaccinated, results of tests for those who couldn’t get a vaccine yet and info on COVID-19 recovery,” the president of the European Commission added.

The Digital Green Pass will feature medical results in order to facilitate travel within the bloc, the European Commission’s chief spokesperson Eric Mamer explained at the institution’s daily press briefing.

The European Commission’s proposal is meant to raise the EU’s leverage on travel restrictions imposed by member states to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Border closures and various travel restrictions provoked disagreement among the EU member states and were criticized by the EU executive body as well.

The European Commission reminded last week six countries – Germany, Belgium Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Hungary – for the second time to respect the bloc’s rules on free movement by adopting proportionate and necessary measures instead of complete travel bans.

However, the proposal on vaccine certificates will have to be adopted by EU governments and the European Parliament in the end.