Movement inside the European Union could be made easier if proposals to issue travellers with a ‘digital certificate’ that would prove they don’t have Covid-19 are given the green light.
The European Commission-proposed Digital Green Certificate will use QR codes and show that a traveller is vaccinated against the virus, has a negative test result, or has recovered from the virus.
The certificate will be free and also available in paper format.
The EC said it planned to build a ‘gateway to ensure all certificates can be verified across the EU, and support Member States in the technical implementation of certificates’.
It added that personal data of certificate holders would not pass through the gateway or be retained by the Member State verifying the travel pass.
It will be down to Member States to decide which restrictions to lift for travellers in general and will have to apply any waivers to holders of the Digital Green Certificate.
The certificates will include name, date of birth, date of issuance, relevant information about vaccine/test/recovery and a unique identifier of the certificate.
Věra Jourová, vice-president for values and transparency, said: “This is a good message in support of recovery. Our key objectives are to offer an easy to use, non-discriminatory and secure tool that fully respects data protection. And we continue working towards international convergence with other partners.”
The certificate, which is said to be a temporary measure, will be also issued to non-EU nationals who live in the EU and visitors who have the right to travel to other Member States.
The Commission said the proposal needs to be quickly adopted by the European Parliament and the Council to be ready in time for the summer.
At the same time, EU countries need to put the technical standards in place, ensuring interoperability, so that the certificate can be rolled out.
A study from Amadeus, involving 9,000 travellers, showed that almost 75 per cent of travelers would be happy to store health data electronically if it meant fewer face-to-face interactions at the airport.
However, respondents raised three main concerns with 38 per cent saying they worried about personal information being hacked, a quarter raising concerns about the health information being shared and 30 per cent saying lack of transparency and control over where data is shared.
Amadeus added expanded its Traveller ID platform recently enabling passengers to show health documentation in a secure way. The full report from Amadeus will be released later this month.
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
