BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union’s executive body on Wednesday proposed issuing certificates that would allow EU residents to travel freely across the bloc of 27 countries by the summer as long as they are vaccinated, negative for COVID-19 tested or recovered from the disease.
As summer looms and tourist-dependent countries anxiously await the return of visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission is providing the creation of certificates aimed at facilitating travel between EU member states. The plan will be discussed next week during a summit of EU leaders,
“We all want the tourism season to start. “We can not afford to lose another season,” Vera Jourova, vice-president of the European Commission, told Czech public radio. “Tourism, as well as culture and other sectors that depend on tourism, suffer terribly. We’re talking about ten million jobs. ”
The issue of vaccination certificates has been under discussion for weeks in the EU, where it appears to be divisive. The travel industry and southern European countries with tourism-dependent economies, such as Greece and Spain, have insisted on the rapid establishment of a program that will help eliminate quarantines and testing requirements for tourists.
But several other EU members, including France, have argued that it would be premature and discriminatory to introduce such passes, as a large majority of EU citizens have so far not had access to vaccines.
To ensure the participation of all member states, the Commission has proposed to deliver a free “Digital Green Certificate” to EU residents who can prove that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, but also to those who tested negative for the virus is or can prove that they have recovered from it.
“Being vaccinated is not a condition for traveling,” the European Commission said. “All EU citizens have a fundamental right to free movement within the EU, and this applies regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not. The Digital Green Certificate will make it easier to exercise that right, also through test and repair certificates. ”
According to data compiled by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, less than 5% of European citizens are fully vaccinated amid delays in the delivery and production of vaccines. The European Commission says it remains confident that it can achieve its goal of vaccinating 70% of the EU’s adult population by the end of the summer.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the travel certificates would help tourism and the economies that rely heavily on them. The European aviation industry has called on EU governments to ensure that the pass is in place in time for the peak of the summer travel season.
The commission suggested that all vaccines placed by the European Medicines Agency with a rubber stamp should be automatically recognized, but also offered governments the option of including other vaccines, such as Russia’s Sputnik or China, Sinovac, which is not the EU. market authorization has not been received.
The European Commission guaranteed that “a very high level of data protection will be ensured” and said the certificates would be issued in digital format for display on smartphones or paper.
EU officials also hope that vaccine certificates will persuade member states that have imposed travel restrictions to slow down the pace of new infections to lift their measures. EU executives had earlier warned six countries that their travel restrictions, which in Belgium led to a ban on unimportant travel, could undermine the core principle of EU free travel and damage the internal market.
The commission said the certificates should be suspended as soon as the World Health Organization declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If EU leaders agree, the proposal will have to be approved by EU lawmakers to take effect.
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Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this story.
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