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EU COVID Gateway Certificate: Free circulation of EU travelers across the EU

News Intro

The EU’s Digital COVID Certificate (or ‘coronavirus passport’) will come into force across the 27-country bloc on July 1, and aims to standardize documents such as proof of vaccination or PCR test results.

Last Update - June 13, 2021

News Item Content

From July 1, the European Union is going to put into use a “coronavirus passport” that will allow its citizens to travel across the 27-country bloc without the need for quarantines – assuming the epidemiological situation does not take a new turn for the worse. The “EU Digital Covid Certificate,” as the scheme is known, is seeking to standardize the documents issued by each country so that they can be recognized by each member.

The new system allows certificates to be verified in a secure and privacy-friendly way.

Free of charge, secure and accessible to all and available in digital format or on paper, it will be a proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, tested negative, or recovered from an infection.

Since 10 May, 22 countries have already tested the gateway successfully. While the Regulation will be applied from 1 July, all Member States, which have passed the technical tests and are ready to issue and verify certificates, can now start using the system on a voluntary basis.

Already several Member States (including Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain and Croatia) have decided to connect to the gateway and started issuing the first EU certificates, while certain countries have decided to launch the EU Digital COVID Certificate only when all functions are deployed nationwide.

Some countries want this document not just to be used for the free circulation of travelers across the EU, but also for social events. Austria wants to use it for access to hotels, restaurants and cultural activities.