Today, May 21, the European Commission approved the provisional political agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on the Regulation governing the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

This means that the certificate, which was previously called the Digital Green Certificate, is very likely to be ready by the end of June, as planned. The agreement has been reached in record time, just two months after the Commission's proposal. The negotiations on the certificate for the Commission have been headed by Commissioner Didier Reynders in close cooperation with Vice-Presidents Vera Jourová and Margaritis Schinas as well as Commissioners Thierry Breton, Stella Kyriakides, and Ylva Johansson.

The key features of the EU Digital COVID Certificate are the following:

• The certificate will cover vaccination, test and recovery
• It will be available in a digital and paper-based format, depending on the choice of the recipients, and contain a digitally signed QR code
• It 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
• It 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 mobilise €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 finalising their national solutions for the issuance and verification of the EU Digital COVID Certificate, and to provide technical and financial support to Member States.

Image © European Parliament, 2021