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The rumored plans of the European Union (EU) to develop a transnational “vaccine passport” are now a definite reality.
EU officials confirmed yesterday that they are working on a European ‘digital green pass’ and the European Commission is expected to publish a draft of the legislation before March 17, according to Euronews.
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While still controversial, vaccine passports would allow those who have been fully vaccinated to move more freely between countries within the bloc, hopefully revitalizing the severely depressed travel sector in the process. The scheme would allow fully vaccinated travelers to circumvent current member state restrictions such as the 10-day quarantine and mandatory testing measures.
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Vaccine passports would potentially be linked not only to official vaccination certificates, but to recent COVID-19 test results and / or documented evidence of a prior COVID-19 recovery. The next draft proposal from the European Commission will set out the details of a common format that can be accepted across the EU and will lay the groundwork for future interoperability of the technology.
The timeline for the actual launch of this digital vaccine passport should be clearer once the official proposal has been published, but several countries hope that it will arrive in time to facilitate summer travel, which can be a major contributor to their respective countries. economies. Time Out reported that these ‘passports’ are likely not to be activated until June at the earliest.
Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded to concerns that vaccine passports would lead to discriminatory practices against the unvaccinated: “It will certainly be nice to have such a certificate, but that does not mean that only those who have a passport to travel. “
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said yesterday: ‘The [pass] it should make life easier for Europeans. The aim is to allow them to gradually move safely within the European Union or abroad, whether for work or tourism. ‘ He has also revealed that he believes that around 70 per cent of all adult EU citizens will have been vaccinated by the end of the summer, calling it a “target we are confident with”.
We will present this month a legislative proposal for a Digital Green Pass. The goal is to provide:
• Proof that a person has been vaccinated
• Test results for those who could not yet get vaccinated
• Information on recovery from COVID19You will respect data protection, security and privacy.
– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 1, 2021
Recognizing that concerns may arise between different member states, von der Leyen explained: “The decision on what you can potentially do with such a vaccination certificate must be decided particularly within each country. But, at the EU level, I think we should use them to ensure the single market works. “
The European Commission also said yesterday that it would work with the World Health Organization to eventually extend the system to non-EU countries. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK will also discuss participation in the EU vaccine passport program.
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