European Commission will propose a Digital Green Pass

The European Commission has announced that it will present a legislative proposal for a Digital Green Pass on 17 March. The certificate will contain proof that a person has been vaccinated, results of tests for those who couldn’t get a vaccine yet and may also consider recovery from COVID-19. The Digital Green Pass is aimed at enabling the safe movement of people across the European Union, or further afield. 

Asked about the proposal, European Commision spokesperson Christian Wiegand said that if the passes were to be in place by the summer, member states would need to move quickly in their preparations and rollout. He said that countries had already agreed on basic data requirements. The European Commission would take a co-ordinating role ensuring high security standards and helping to connect different national health services. 

The EU’s aim is to facilitate safe free movement - apart from vaccination, the EU will be looking at other categories of information to avoid discrimination.

Belgian Foreign Minister and former prime minister Sophie Wilmès tweeted: “The idea of a standardized European system that allows each individual to gather pieces of information about one’s vaccination, COVID-tests, etc. on a single digital document (certificate) is a good one.”

However, she added that the notion of a "pass" is confusing in relation to the objective that this certificate should pursue.

In a further tweet, Wilmès wrote: “For Belgium, there is no question of linking vaccination to the freedom of movement around Europe. Respect for the principle of non-discrimination is more fundamental than ever since vaccination is not compulsory and access to the vaccine is not yet generalized.”

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