The European Commission has unveiled its proposal for a “green digital certificate” or vaccine passport to allow safe and free movement within the EU during the pandemic.
The certificate will confirm that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from Covid-19, which can be used in all EU Member States, the Commission announced on Wednesday.
The certificate can also be used in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland and will be “open to initiatives that are developing globally,” the Commission said in an information sheet sent to CNN.
The proposal was unveiled as the Commission called on Member States to prepare for a “coordinated approach to a gradual lifting of COVID-19 restrictions” when the epidemiological situation allows, ahead of a meeting of European leaders on 25 March.
“Today we propose a common EU approach that will lead us on the path to our goal of reopening the EU in a safe, sustainable and predictable way. The situation with the virus in Europe is still very difficult and confidence in the decisions taken is crucial. Only through a common approach can we return safely to full free movement in the EU, based on transparent measures and full mutual trust, “said Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, in a press release.
The green digital certificate will contain a QR code with a digital signature “to protect it against forgery. When the certificate is verified, the QR code is scanned and the signature is verified ”, it was mentioned in the Commission’s information sheet.
Each issuing body (eg a hospital, a testing center, a medical authority) has its own digital signature key and all of this is stored in a secure database in each country.
The European Commission will build a gateway where all certificate signatures can be verified across the EU.
Member States should issue vaccination certificates regardless of the type of COVID-19 vaccine, the Commission has proposed. People who were vaccinated before the green digital certificate was put into service should also be able to obtain the necessary vaccination certificate.
No exact end date has been set for the certificates, with the Commission stating that they will be suspended once the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the international public health emergency caused by COVID-19.
The Commission is working to ensure that certificates are compatible with systems in non-EU third countries, he said.