(Reuters) The European Commission expects to finish work soon on a COVID-19 certificate that could allow citizens to travel more easily this summer within the 27-nation bloc, the EU executive said on Tuesday after a meeting with European affairs ministers.
The pass would allow those vaccinated, recovered from COVID-19, or with negative test results to cross borders in a union where restrictions on movement have weighed heavily on the travel and tourism industry for more than a yr.
“It is a priority for our citizens and therefore I believe we will ship (on the certificate) before summer,” Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic stated after the meeting in Brussels. He stated he expected a full roll-out by the summer.
A two-week pilot project to test the technology a few nations at a time began on Monday, the EU Commission said.
However, EU governments, the European Parliament, and the Commission must agree on the design of the certificate. They must also resolve whether quicker, however less accurate, COVID-19 antigen tests will be included.
Sefcovic called on all sides to work together to complete the legislative, as well as the technical, work as quickly as possible, noting the complexity of the job.
“For the certificate to work, it has to be on smartphones, it has to be interoperable, possible to check it. So it’s quite the task to do it at the pan-European level”, Sefcovic stated.
The European Parliament says no one will be obliged to use the EU certificate and it must not be considered a vaccine passport.
Sefcovic stated the Commission was working closely to inform the United States, the World Health Organization, and others about its progress to allow the certificate to be used on a wider scale.
As the vaccination campaign within the EU is gaining speed with 200 million jabs delivered and COVID-19 infections charges falling, Europe is starting to reopen cities and beaches, raising hopes for the summer holiday season.
