Summer is approaching: the race against time is on to establish a health passport, renamed the “green certificate,” by June.
It is a political and economic urgency for tourism in Southern countries, for whom this period is economically vital.
An important step was taken on Wednesday with the broad adoption of the project unveiled in mid-March by the European Parliament. The final step, the final text of the future regulation, now needs to be decided in a “trilogue” with the Council, which represents the member states. Meanwhile, technical discussions to ensure the interoperability of the certificates—each state will issue its own—are already well advanced.
In practical terms, the green certificate aims to ensure that its holder has been vaccinated, has tested negative within the past 72 hours, or has already contracted the virus and still has antibodies.
This certificate will not be strictly mandatory for travel: it is a tool to facilitate movement through mutual recognition of vaccinations and tests, but it’s still possible to exercise one’s right to free movement without it.
However, each state is free to impose entry restrictions (tests, quarantines, etc.), which strongly incentivizes participation in the green certificate scheme. Europe promises that this certificate will be impeccable in terms of data protection.
