EU officials give OK to virus travel certificate

BRUSSELS — European Union lawmakers on Wednesday endorsed a new travel certificate that will allow people to move between European countries without having to quarantine or undergo extra coronavirus tests, paving the way for the pass to start in time for summer.

The widely awaited certificate is aimed at saving Europe’s travel industry and prime tourist sites from another disastrous vacation season. Key travel destinations like Greece have led the drive to have the certificate, which will have both paper and digital forms, rapidly introduced.

Several EU countries have already begun using the system, including Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Poland.

The new regulations governing the vaccine certificates were adopted in two votes at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Rules for EU citizens were passed 546-93, with 51 abstentions. Those for people from outside the bloc passed 553-91, with 46 abstentions.

The vote must still be rubber-stamped by EU nations, but that’s likely a formality.

It means that beginning July 1 for 12 months, all EU countries must recognize the vaccine certificate. They will be issued free and certify that a person has either been fully vaccinated against the virus, has recently tested negative or has recovered from the disease.

The rules will not be heavily enforced for 6 weeks to allow countries to prepare.

The passes will be issued by individual nations and not from a centralized European system. They will contain a QR code with advanced security features. Personal data will not be shared with other countries.