As per the latest reports, the European citizens can soon start packing for their summer vacations in the bloc’s 27 nations without having to worry about the quarantines anymore. They would be soon able to travel freely across the EU.
The European legislators and the member countries have found a compromise on Thursday for launching COVID-19 certificates before the height of the summer holiday season. This is a move that is aimed at boosting travel and tourism by abiding by the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic.
The various players involved have managed to reconcile their respective differences during another round of discussions that paved the way for the trans-border travel passes to be introduced soon. The officials said that the system should be up and get running by 1 July.
European Parliament Rapporteur, Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said that this agreement is the first step to get the Schengen Area back on track. This will make all the difference and that it won’t be repeating the nightmare of 2020 summer.
The European Commission has said that the certificates will be issued in digital format and the design has to be shown either on paper or smart phones. It also guaranteed that a very high level of data protection will be ensured in the process.
Back in March, when the certificate was proposed, the executive committee had said that the documents would be given to the EU residents who can thereby prove that they have been vaccinated and also those who have tested negative for the virus, or had recovered from the virus.
The lawmakers of the EU and the nation shave agreed on that. However, the European Parliament has insisted that the COVID-19 certificates should be enough to allow the EU citizens to move freely in all the member countries and the governments shouldn’t be allowed to impose any extra restrictions on the certificate holders, such as for more tests and quarantines.
Border controls are a national responsibility and the EU member nations were not ready to surrender their prerogatives. Another hurdle was the price of the tests that the lawmakers insisted should be free of charge.
On Thursday, the European Commission said that it would allocate 100 million Euros in the EU funds for the purchase of the virus tests that remain compatible with the certificates.
The Parliament further stated that this should particularly benefit the persons who cross the borders frequently or daily to go to school, or work, visit close relatives, take care of the loved ones, or seek medical help.
Currently, all the vaccines that have been authorized by the European Medicines Agency are the ones made by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.
The national governments shall be permitted to include other vaccines which haven’t received the EU market authorization.
As under the provisional agreement, the certificate regulation would be in place for 12 months.
