Friday

8th Dec 2023

New EU Covid certficate set for July holiday travel

  • People are gearing up for holidays in Europe (Photo: Visit Greece)

People in the EU should be able to travel more freely as of the first of July, following agreement on a new Covid certificate.

The decision on the EU-wide certificate, reached among the EU institutions on Thursday (20 May), aims to prove the Covid status of people travelling, and lift travel restrictions.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"As of the first of July, three types of certificates will be available," EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders told reporters.

The certificate types comprise vaccination, negative test, and recovery. They will be valid in all EU countries.

"All of them will be free of charge for all EU citizens and it will be possible to have them in a digital format," he said.

The certificates can also be printed.

National authorities will be able to verify a certificate's validity by uploading public signature keys to a special EU gateway.

However, only 17 EU states, plus Iceland, have so far successfully tested the EU gateway.

The 17 EU states are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

Others have scheduled further tests in the coming days, including Latvia, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Romania.

The vaccine certificate will indicate the type of vaccine, when it was given, and the dosage.

A person with only one dose can still travel. But it will be up to the individual member states to decide whether or not to accept it.

The European Commission has also recommended member states only accept vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency.

If a person has been given something else, then it will be up to the individual member state whether to accept it or not.

It is not immediately clear for how long the vaccine certificate will be valid for.

"We don't yet know whether there will be a third vaccination, we are not there yet," said Reynders.

The commission is also pushing rapid antigen tests for the negative test certificate.

At under €5, the tests are relatively cheap. Reynders said an additional €100m has been set aside to purchase more tests.

This comes on top of the some 20 million rapid antigen tests already purchased, and a €2.6bn joint-procurement for another 550 million.

"At the beginning of July, we will have more vaccinated people and less tests to organise," noted Reynders.

Member states will still be able to impose restrictions on movement, if required. But those restrictions must be "necessary, proportionate and not discriminate." One possible scenario would be the sudden emergence of a variant and a subsequent deterioration of public health.

EU states will first have to inform each other, the EU commission, and the public before imposing the restrictions.

Discussions on mutual recognition of certificates are also under way with other countries, like the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

"The objective is to accept vaccinated persons coming from outside the EU, those who have been vaccinated," said Reynders.

Reynders said they are currently working on a case-by-case basis.

A list of non-EU countries, where EU citizens can travel to, is also still being worked out.

"I hope that by the first of July we will have made more progress with third countries," he said.

Belgium outlines summer Covid relaxation plans

Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo announced that from 9 June restaurants, cinemas, theatres and fitness centres will be able to open their doors again. Indoor and outdoor events will steadily be able to host more people.

Brussels pushes to fix EU travel rules ahead of summer

The European Commission has updated the common approach to travel measures in the EU, urging member states to gradually lift restrictions - in a bid to end a current patchwork of rules across the bloc.

First glimpse of EU's new 'digital identity wallet'

The European Commission unveiled its plans for an EU 'digital identity wallet' - an app that will allow citizens to store their national digital identification or driver licence on their phones to access public and private services across the EU.

Opinion

The EU's U-turn on caged farm animals — explained

A European citizens' initiative — signed by 1.4 million people — saw the EU Commission promise to ban cages for 300 million farmed animals. Then the farming lobby got involved.

Opinion

'Pay or okay?' — Facebook & Instagram vs the EU

Since last week, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta corporation is forcing its European users to either accept their intrusive privacy practices — or pay €156 per year to access Facebook and Instagram without tracking advertising.

Latest News

  1. EU suggests visa-bans on Israeli settlers, following US example
  2. EU ministers prepare for all-night fiscal debate
  3. Spain's Nadia Calviño backed to be EIB's first female chief
  4. Is there hope for the EU and eurozone?
  5. Crunch talks seek breakthrough on EU asylum overhaul
  6. Polish truck protest at Ukraine border disrupts war supplies
  7. 'Green' banks lend most to polluters, reveals ECB
  8. Tense EU-China summit showdown unlikely to bear fruit

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us