The provisional political agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on the Regulation governing the EU Digital COVID Certificate has been reached. This means that the certificate will be available to European citizens at the end of June.
The EU Digital COVID Certificate will be free of charge, secure and accessible to all. It will cover vaccination, test and recovery offering different options to the citizens. It will fully respect citizens' fundamental rights, including protection of personal data.
The EU Digital COVID Certificate – key features
Following the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council, the EU Digital COVID Certificate:
- will cover vaccination, test and recovery;
- will be available in a digital and paper-based format, depending on the choice of the recipients, and contain a digitally signed QR code;
- will be free of charge, be obtained easily and also available to persons vaccinated before the EU Digital COVID Certificate Regulation has entered into force;
- may also be used by Member States for national purposes if this is provided for in national law;
- Member States shall refrain from imposing additional travel restrictions on the holders of an EU Digital COVID Certificate unless they are necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health;
- The Commission will also mobilize €100 million to support Member States in providing affordable tests.
The political agreement will now have to be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. The Regulation will enter into force on 1 July, with a phasing-in period of six weeks for the issuance of certificates for those Member States that need additional time.
In parallel, the Commission will continue to support the Member States in finalizing their national solutions for the issuance and verification of EU Digital COVID Certificate, and to provide technical and financial support to Member States to on-board the gateway.