On Tuesday, June 1, the EU Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) was released broadly at the EU level. The EU DCC allows authorities to verify vaccination and health information in a secure way. It also allows citizens to travel more freely.
A DCC will show if a passenger:
- is vaccinated against COVID-19;
- has recovered from COVID-19 in the past 9 months; or
- has a negative test result taken no more than 72 hours before arrival
From July 1, the DCC will be available across the EU.
Test Pilots
Since May 10, 22 countries signed on as test pilots for the program. Member States which passed the technical tests can start to use the system.
On Tuesday, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, and Poland – connected to the gateway and have begun issuing the first EU certificates.
Timeline
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June 1 | EU Gateway (interconnection of national systems) goes live.
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June 1 – 30 | Warm-up phase: Member States can launch the certificate on a voluntary basis provided they are ready to issue and verify certificates and have the necessary legal base in place.
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Mid-June | Revised Council Recommendation on travel within the EU.
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July 1 | The EU Digital COVID Certificate enters into application throughout the EU.
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July 1 – August 12 | Phase-in period: if a Member State is not yet ready to issue the new certificate to its citizens, other formats can still be used and should be accepted in other Member States.
Background
On March 17, 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal to create an EU COVID Certificate to facilitate the safe free movement of citizens within the EU during the pandemic. On 20 May, co-legislators reached a provisional agreement. More information about the EU Digital Covid Certificate is available here.
The latest information on coronavirus measures as well as travel restrictions provided by the Member States are available on the Re-open EU platform.