EU APPROVES FREE MOVEMENT WITHIN BLOC FOR HOLDERS OF COVID-19 CERTIFICATES

Mon 14 June 2021:

The Council of the European Union on Monday announced approving the decision to lift travel restrictions within the bloc for people with EU COVID-19 vaccination certificates.

“Holders of vaccination certificates issued in line with the EU digital COVID certificate regulation should not be subject to testing or quarantine/self isolation if they are fully vaccinated with an EMA approved vaccine and at least 14 days have passed since full vaccination.

Member states could also lift such restrictions after the first dose of a two-dose series,” the council said in a statement.

According to lonelyplanet.com, the system is currently being tested for citizens and visitors in Spain, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Lithuania and Poland before its formal launch in July, when it’s expected to be taken up by the rest of the EU member states.

These countries have up to six weeks to implement the digital cert after the regulation governing it comes into effect on July 1. The certificate also applies to non-EU members of the European Schengen zone, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

What is the EU digital COVID-19 cert?

The certificate tracks EU citizens’ COVID-19 status; indicating if the holder has been vaccinated or has tested negative for the virus, or has recovered from infection. Individual countries will issue their own certificates.

Each hospital, testing center or health authority has its own digital signature, and all of these signatures are stored in a secure database in each country and verified across the bloc in a technical system, or “gateway” that went live last week.

How does it work?

The digital certificate is stored on a mobile device, and citizens can also request a paper version. Both will have a QR code that contains essential information, as well as a digital seal to ensure the certificate is authentic.

Once they hold the certificate, every EU citizen or third-country national legally staying or residing in the EU should be exempt from free movement restrictions, including quarantine and additional testing “unless they are necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health”.

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