Brussels proposes a COVID passport to save the summer season
At the proposal of the European Commission, the creation of the so-called Digital Green Certificate, better known as the COVID passport, is to be launched, with the aim of saving the summer season, which will have a favourable impact, especially in those countries that are most dependent on the tourist sector. One of these countries, Greece, led the initiative, which was soon joined by Spain, Portugal and Malta.
It will be issued free of charge and the information will appear in both the official language of each country and in English. The passport will contain the bearer's basic information and its usefulness will not only be limited to the territory of the European Union, but will also be valid in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The Digital Green Certificate will be issued by national authorities and will serve as proof that a person has been vaccinated, had a recent negative test result or has recovered from the disease and has immunity.
The passport will be in digital and paper format, and in both cases will include a QR code with a digital signature to prevent forgery as it will verify the authenticity and validity of the certificate. Holders will be able to avoid restrictive measures in the countries they travel to, such as quarantines.
It will be available to EU citizens and their family members, non-EU citizens residing in the EU and visitors entitled to travel to other member states.
In the short term, people coming from third countries who have been vaccinated will also be able to apply. Brussels also does not rule out accepting certificates from other countries in the future, as long as they are reliable.
Once the proposal has been made by the European Commission, it is now up to the European Parliament and the Council to approve it. In addition, each Member State will have to develop technical standards to ensure the proper functioning of the passport, as well as the protection of personal data.
The idea is that it should be operational before this summer.
What information does it include?The Commission ensures that only the most essential data will appear, i.e. name, date of birth, issuing state, date of issue, certificate identification number and COVID-19 information.
The passports of those who have been vaccinated will show the name of the vaccine, the manufacturer, the number of doses and the date of vaccination. For those who have not been vaccinated, but have a test that corroborates that they are negative, the date and time of the test, the type of test, the centre where it was carried out and, obviously, the result will appear.
In the third case, the passport of people who have passed the disease and have antibodies will show the date of the positive result, the issuer of the certificate, the date of validity and the date of issue.
All vaccines that have received marketing authorisation in the European Union will be valid, although individual Member States can decide whether to accept other vaccines, such as the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. At present, the Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna, Jansen and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines have been cleared by EU health authorities.
In terms of testing, NAAT tests, including RT-PCR, and rapid antigen tests listed in the basis of Council Recommendation 2021/C 24/01 will be allowed.
The passport will serve to speed up and facilitate free movement within the EU, but "will not be a precondition for free movement", as Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said. In other words, those who do not have a passport will be able to travel, but will have to comply with the restrictions imposed by each member state.
However, there are some criticisms in this regard, since, for example, PCRs are expensive, costing between 100 and 200 euros, which is not affordable for everyone. Moreover, in some countries, such as Spain, there is the paradox that thousands of tourists can arrive while some nationals have been unable to visit their relatives for months due to closures between autonomous communities
