Vaccine pass widens EU travel options
The European Council announced on Monday its digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate had been signed into law, paving the way for quarantine-free travel to return in the region.
The certificate, already in use in 12 countries, allows for travel restrictions to be lifted across all 27 member states of the European Union, and will be available for specific non-EU countries, too. The program is due to start on July 1.
The European Commission first presented a proposal to create a COVID-19 certificate for free travel within the EU in March. On May 20, lawmakers reached a provisional agreement. It has passed its legislative process.
The commission said the certificate is free of charge, secure and accessible to all. It is available in digital format or on paper. It will be proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, tested negative, or recovered from an infection.
No discrimination
It highlighted that no one will be banned from traveling if they have not been vaccinated, as the new certificate will not be a precondition to free movement across the bloc. There is no discrimination against individuals who are not vaccinated, according to the commission.
The European Council had said previously any nation planning to issue certificates needed to guarantee they would be “fully interoperable, compatible, secure and verifiable”.
Greece, one of the nations firmly behind the original proposals for the certificate, announced it would shorten its nightly curfew.
With holidaymakers in Europe now free to make travel plans, Britons are being told to stay at home, which has drawn criticism from the United Kingdom’s travel industry.
The government in the UK has been discouraging overseas vacations this summer. It is instead focused on promoting domestic tourism, while restrictions remain.
Flight bookings from countries within the EU to Spain and Greece have reached near 50 percent of prepandemic levels in June, the Financial Times reported. The number of flights from the UK to the EU is just 20 percent of levels seen before the crisis.