The European Union will propose the issuance of a certificate called the Green Digital Pass, which would allow people vaccinated against the coronavirus to travel more freely, said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, on Monday.
“The Digital Green Pass should make life easier for Europeans,” wrote Ms. Von der Leyen on Twitter. “The aim is to gradually allow them to move safely within the European Union or abroad – for work or tourism.”
The announcement came after an intense debate at a virtual meeting last week, which revealed deep divisions between the leaders of the bloc’s 27 member countries.
Countries that depend on tourism, such as Greece, have been pushing for this plan to help save the summer travel season, while others, led by France, fear the potential for discrimination between vaccinated and unvaccinated Europeans, as well as possible violation of protection of personal data.
“In the future, it will certainly be good to have this certificate, but that does not mean that only those who have this passport will be able to travel,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the meeting last week.
Vaccination efforts in the European Union have generally started off slowly. Only 5% of the bloc’s population has received at least one vaccine injection so far. But the certificates go beyond vaccination status to include the carrier’s broader medical history for the virus, according to Christian Wigand, a spokesman for the commission.
“We will also look at other categories of information to avoid discrimination against citizens, such as test results and recovery statements,” said Wigand on Monday.
Setting up the system and issuing certificates would take at least three months, the commission said. It was not immediately clear what legislative and technical steps would be necessary, nor whether the system would extend beyond the citizens of the European Union.
The commission said that there should be a way to expand it globally, in cooperation with the World Health Organization. But when pressed for more details, Mr. Wigand asked for “a little patience”, explaining that “all of this is very new “.
After meeting with the 27 national leaders last week, Ms. Von der Leyen said: “It is important to have a European solution, because otherwise, others will go into this vacuum. Google and Apple are already offering solutions to WHO, and this is sensitive information. ”Apple later said that Ms. Von der Leyen may have misunderstood and that the company was not offering this solution at the time.