The European Commission hopes to have its Covid-19 certificate in place by the end of June, which would allow for easier travel across the bloc in time for summer.
The digital health pass would show those who have been vaccinated, recovered from the virus or had a negative test. But the Commission, EU countries and the European Parliament still need to agree on important features, including whether faster but less accurate antigen tests are included.
Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of the Commission, believed the certificate would be ready for the summer.
Speaking after a meeting of European affairs ministers, he said he underlined “the need to get the legislative process across the finishing line by the end of this month.
“At the same time, I highlighted that it is crucial to set up IT and other technical aspects, because we want the member states connected to the EU gateway no later than by the end of June. We see this as a key development allowing us some degree of normality for this summer.”
Portugal’s European affairs chief, Ana Paula Zacarias, said it was hoped the certificate would be approved as soon as possible.
The European Parliament said no one will be obliged to use the certificate and it will not be regarded as a passport.
“For the certificate to work, it has to be on smartphones, it has to be interoperable, possible to check it. So it is quite the task to do it at the pan-European level", Mr Sefcovic said.
While the EU’s vaccination campaign was criticised at the beginning for being slow, more than 200 million doses have been administered.
