Council extends the regulation establishing the EU digital COVID certificate

The Council gave its green light to the extension of the regulation establishing the EU digital COVID certificate.

The digital COVID certificate has played an important role in facilitating the free movement of people during the pandemic.

The regulation establishing the EU digital COVID certificate will be prolonged by one year, until 30 June 2023. The extension of the regulation will ensure that EU travellers as well as those from third countries connected to the system can continue to use their EU digital COVID certificate for travel within the Union in member states where these certificates are required. If the health situation allows, the regulation can also be repealed earlier.

In addition to the prolongation, this extension also includes:

• an obligation for the Commission to submit a detailed report by 31 December 2022. This report could be accompanied by legislative proposals to allow for a new assessment of the need to repeal or maintain the certificate, depending on developments in the health situation;
• the clarification that vaccination certificates should reflect all doses administered; regardless of the member state where people received their vaccination;
• the possibility to issue a certificate of recovery following an antigen test;
• the expansion of the range of authorised antigen tests used to qualify for a COVID-19 certificate;
• the possibility to allow vaccination certificates to be issued to persons participating in clinical trials.

Background

The current regulation establishing the EU digital COVID certificate was adopted on 14 June 2021 and has been in force since 1 July 2021. It will now be extended until 30 June 2023. The amending regulation which was adopted today will enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.