The Digital Green Certificate to facilitate free movement within the EU may arrive in June

On March 17, the European Commission presented the legislative proposal to create a Digital Green Certificate, also known as the “vaccine passport”. It will be probably active from next June and has the goal, as explained by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to restore the people travelling in a safe, responsible and trustworthy way. In a nutshell, it should facilitate free and safe movement within the EU during the pandemic and simplify the movement of European citizens, especially in view of summer 2021.

The Digital Green Certificate can only be requested in three cases, the first of which is obviously that of having been vaccinated. Alternatively, you will have to test negative for an anti-Covid swab (molecular or rapid antigen test) or be cured after contracting the virus (demonstrable through a serological test).

The Digital Green Certificate, which will be issued both in paper and digital version, will be free and available in the language of the member state that issues it, as well as in English. Its security and authenticity will be guaranteed by the presence of a QR Code, which will contain the necessary key information, and by a digital signature. It should be issued to EU citizens and their family members and to those of third countries who reside in the European Union as well as to visitors who have the right to travel to other member states. This certificate will be valid not only in all EU member states, but also in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Each state will be able to decide independently which restrictions to apply to travelers, but they must be the same for all certificate holders, regardless of the EU country of origin. For example, if a state would impose quarantine even on holders of a Digital Green Certificate, it would have to notify the Commission and all other members and would have to justify the decision.

On the data protection front, the Commission has ensured that no personal data of the certificate holders will pass through the verification system or be stored by the Member State carrying out the verification. The Commission explains in its FAQs that the digital green certificate system will not require the creation and maintenance of an EU-wide database.

The proposal relating to the Digital Green Certificate is not yet operational and could therefore be modified. It will have to be approved according to the normal co-decision procedure and to be ready before the summer, as the Commission explained, it must be adopted quickly by the European Parliament and the Council. And, in any case, it will be a temporary measure, which will be suspended once the WHO – World Health Organization declares the end of the international health emergency.