Commissioner Didier Reynders told the European Parliament that more than one million EU citizens already have a Covid-19 certificate proving the rollout of the scheme is progressing well.
Nine countries including Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Croatia, Poland, Lithuania, Spain and the Czech Republic have already started issuing similar certificates, which will have to be recognised in the other member states.
From 1 July onwards, all EU member states will accept the certificates, which will show that a person has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, has a recent negative PCR Covid-19 test, or has recently been infected and has recovered, and is therefore immune.
The certificate, which will be issued free of charge by national authorities and be available in either digital or paper format containing a QR code, will remain in place for 12 months, a Parliament press release confirmed.
All EU countries must accept vaccination certificates issued in other member states for vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), however, individual Member States can decide on their own whether they also accept certificates that have been approved by certain countries or have been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for emergency use.
EU Commissioner Didier Reynders said: “The more Covid certificates are issued in the coming weeks, the better we can avoid problems. This certificate will make life easier for citizens. It will help them move around the EU, whether for work, family reasons or leisure.”
The European regulation that will be validated in the coming days defines a single format.
If a member state is not ready to issue such a certificate by July 1, it will be given six weeks to do so.
