EC urges EU countries to introduce vaccination certificates by July 1

European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, during a debate at the plenary session of the European Parliament, has urged European countries to introduce national certificates with information on vaccination against coronavirus or PCR test results, without waiting for the approval of a pan-European document, Report informs referring to TASS.

"To speed up the procedure, it is necessary now to issue as many certificates as possible in all countries, so that this does not come as a surprise to us by July 1, and we would be ready to simplify the procedure for free movement in Europe while maintaining certain restrictions," he said.

He noted that the EC has already launched a website for verifying the authenticity of sanitary certificates and reminded that seven EU states have already started issuing such documents. "Since May 10, 26 member states have tested their ability to join the issuance of certificates, and today another ten countries are ready to start this process," said the European commissioner.

Reynders stressed that the green digital certificate should not be a pretext for discrimination against those who want to travel but cannot be vaccinated for various reasons. "We must ensure that the right to free movement is respected and that the right of entry is guaranteed based on PCR tests or antigen tests. I hope that progress can be made in the coming weeks on the price of these tests to make them available to all residents of all Member States," he said, adding that the EC has already decided to allocate 100 million euros from EU funds to support this initiative.

About European certificates

As previously announced by the EU leadership, the EU vaccination certificate system will be phased in from mid-June, which will gradually restore freedom of movement in the EU. The pass system is expected to become fully operational by July 1, when the holiday season begins in most EU countries.

These certificates will contain the following groups of data: whether vaccination was carried out, when and with what drug, when the document holder underwent the last PCR test, whether he or she had previously COVID-19. The validity of the passes will be limited in time, but no specific dates are named. The document should remove most of the sanitary barriers for its owner when traveling within the EU. However, details of its application have not yet been announced.