The countries of the European Union (EU) have agreed on the specifications of the coronavirus vaccination certificates. This was announced on April 22 in the press service of the European Commission (EC).
The EC noted that the introduction of certificates should be provided by countries by June 2021.
It is noted that a technical specification was agreed upon: data structure, mechanisms for their encoding. They also discussed the issue of QR-code, which should be read both on digital and on paper.
Also, the EU member states have agreed on the exchange of electronic signature keys, with the help of which it will be possible to verify the authenticity of the certificate, while other personal data of the owners will not be transferred.
“The manual describes the reference software for issuing Digital Green certifications; a reference application for verifying certificates and a wallet application template so that citizens can store the certificate, ”the EC said in a statement.
It is indicated that each country will be able to independently create a system for issuing certificates using the developed reference software options, which will be ready in May 2021.
Prior to that, on April 14, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that a digital certificate of vaccination against coronavirus could appear in the EU by June. Earlier that day, the permanent representatives of the EU member states agreed on a mandate to negotiate with the European Parliament on a bill concerning the creation of digital COVID certificates in the European Union.
On March 22, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the introduction of COVID-19 vaccination passports to enter a particular country could lead to the emergence of new dividing lines and violation of human rights. He stressed that the absence of such a document should not be allowed to infringe on the principle of voluntary vaccination and the rights of travelers.
Earlier, on March 17, the European Commission presented a draft digital certificate of vaccination against coronavirus. According to the EC, the document will contain information on the vaccination of an EU citizen, data on his recovery after suffering COVID-19, or a negative PCR test for coronavirus.