The Diplomat
The Spanish government has shown its “strong support” for the digital green certificate proposed yesterday by the European Commission to facilitate safe free movement within the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We must facilitate mobility in a safe, coordinated way and with full health guarantees,” declared yesterday the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, through his official Twitter account. “The vaccination certificate proposed today by the European Commission is good news to move in this direction” and, therefore, “they have the support of Spain”, he added. “Important decision of the European Commission today proposing the creation of a digital green certificate to facilitate coordinated and safe mobility during COVID-19,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, via the same social network. “Strong support from Spain”, she added.
The new health passport will encompass three types of certificates: vaccination certificates, test certificates (RT-PCR tests or rapid antigen tests) and certificates for people who have recovered from COVID-19. The aim of this triple certificate is to “prevent discrimination against people who are not vaccinated” and to allow “all people, vaccinated and non-vaccinated” to “benefit from a digital green certificate when traveling in the EU”.
This point could help overcome some of the reluctance shown by the countries most reluctant to the certificate. The idea of the certificate, initially proposed by Greece and supported by the southern European countries most dependent on tourism, such as Spain, Italy, Malta, Cyprus and Portugal, has generated little enthusiasm in countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, which have expressed fears that the certificate would discriminate against people who have not been vaccinated.
The aim of the digital certificate is to show or state “whether the person has either been vaccinated, or has a recent negative test, or has recovered from COVID-19 and has thus antibodies”, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a press conference yesterday. It will also ensure that the results of these certificates “are mutually recognized in every Member States” and, thanks to this digital certificate, will help Member States to “reinstate the freedom of movement in a safe, responsible and trusted manner”, she added.
The certificate proposed by Brussels will be available free of charge in digital or paper format, and will include a QR code to ensure the security and authenticity of the certificate. Apart from that, the Commission will build a gateway to ensure all certificates can be verified across the EU and will support Member States in the technical implementation of the certificates. “No personal data of the certificate holders passes through the gateway or is retained by the verifying Member State”, said the Commission, which specified that the certificates will include a limited set of information, such as name, date of birth, identity number, date of issue, relevant information on vaccination, analysis or recovery and a unique identifier of the certificate. This data may only be checked to confirm and verify the authenticity and validity of the certificates.
Green digital certificates will be valid in all EU Member States and will be open to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Green digital certificates should be issued to EU citizens and their family members, regardless of their nationality. They should also be issued to third-country nationals residing in the EU and visitors entitled to travel to other member states. “The Digital Green Certificate system is a temporary measure. It will be suspended once the World Health Organization (WHO) declares the end of the COVID-19 international health emergency”, the Commission assured.
