Filenews 26 April 2021 - by Adamos Adamou
Conversely, the time is now running out for the creation of the Digital Green Certificate to facilitate the restart of travel at European level, after Member States agreed last week on the guidelines for the main technical specifications for the implementation of the system.
In a statement, the Commission welcomed the agreement, saying it was extremely important to move work on technical implementation forward, alongside the ongoing legislative process, to ensure the availability of digital green certificates across the EU by the end of June. The next step from a technical point of view is now the creation of national infrastructures, the development of national solutions for the issue, verification and storage of digital green certificates and the creation of the EU portal with the Commission noting that "following a trial phase in May, the EU portal will be ready in June to connect member states".
A meeting of the European Parliament is expected to take place on the subject in May and once the relevant approval has been given by the European Parliament and the Council, the regulation will be published in the official EU newspaper and binding on all Member States three days later. The digital green certificate being promoted will cover three types of certificates: vaccination certificates, examination certificates (NAAT/RT-PCR test or rapid antigen test) and certificates for persons recovering from COVID-19. Certificates will be issued in digital or printed form, but both versions will include a QR code.As we are informed, the processes in the EU are closely monitored by the Secretary of State for Research, but at the same time it is also taking its own steps to enable the ND to proceed with the issue of its own digital certificates. The Deputy Minister for Research, Innovation and Digital Policy has reportedly been working on the creation of digital green certificates with the aim of using them in one of the next phases of easing restrictions. The actions of the Ministry of Health may also be related to the notification of the Ministry of Health that after the end of the new lockdown visits to places where there is a gathering will be made provided that the visitor is in possession of a negative test or has been vaccinated at least with the 1st dose or has been sick.
