EU Covid-19 passports could allow free travel for citizens.

After a year of life staring at four walls for the majority of our days, most of us are dreaming of holidays in the sunny South of Europe, and the EU plans to make this a reality over the summer. NOS Journaal, who have seen some of the plans, report that EU citizens will have the chance to obtain a ‘green certificate’, which will give them the freedom to move between countries in the EU.

Residents who qualify for this ‘green certificate’ will include those who have been vaccinated, those who have recently been tested, and those who have or have had antibodies to the virus when tested. Obviously, there may still be people who wish to travel but who haven’t yet received the vaccine, which is why a negative test result will be accepted in place of vaccination.

EU states plan to design digital certificates which may arrive in the form of an app. These certificates will ideally use digital features like barcodes to prove the status of a citizen. However, it has been suggested that a vaccination certification from a doctor could, for example, be accepted. Countries will not be creating an international database of citizens’ health data, which will be reassuring to some. Plenty of countries are already working on vaccination certificates for use within their own countries, so hopefully, these certificates can be adapted to act as EU certificates too. We are keeping our fingers crossed for free travel around the EU by summer with these certificates and already mentally planning a holiday.