The European Commission will propose a recommendation or delegated act to extend the use of the COVID certificate to intra-EU travel, a source close to the matter told EURACTIV.com. The source added that the certificate will expire 12 months after the last dose of COVID-19 vaccine was administered. This means that in order to be able to travel, either a test or the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will be required.
It is uncertain whether the Commission proposal will take the form of an authorized act or recommendation. EURACTIV was informed that the Commission would submit a proposal to the Council on Friday.
The source said that the Member States agree in principle with the Commission’s direction, but admit that they do not want to “make too much noise about it”, given the high number of unvaccinated in their countries.
Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Greece have already started offering the third tranche to citizens of all ages. On Wednesday, Belgium joined the club and will start giving the third installment to the general population in the first months of 2022.
Other countries have recommended it for the elderly and those with underlying health problems.
In the meantime, the Commission staff will receive the third tranche next week and the process is expected to be completed by the end of January 2022.
Following pressure from the European Parliament, the current COVID-19 passport regulation is supposed to last a year. However, the source estimated that EU MPs are not expected to oppose the Commission’s plans, given the deteriorating situation of the pandemic.
Europe has recently seen a sharp rise in infections and deaths throughout the Union.
The map of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows that Eastern European countries, which have reported low vaccination rates, have entered the red and dark red zones.
In contrast, most western EU countries, where vaccination levels are higher than the EU average, remain mostly orange.
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