Spain Calls on EU Commission to Accelerate Launch of COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate
Spain’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has urged the European Commission to accelerate the launching of vaccination certificates which would help the safe restart of travel and ease the travelling process for all persons who have taken the vaccine against the Coronavirus pandemic.
Maroto’s comments came during the meeting of representatives of Tourism of the European Union, during which she emphasized the need to adopt standard protocols in the EU Member States in order to avoid movement restrictions, particularly in the case of Britain, as the coordination in this regard will be crucial to guarantee the gradual and safe recovery of the tourism sector, AtoZSerwisPlus.pl reports.
The minister further has stressed “that the certificates are a useful and effective tool to resume mobility safely”, insisting that “efforts be redoubled to guarantee better coordination and communication of measures related to the travel at EU level to avoid discriminatory measures between citizens and regain trust among travellers. ”
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism in Spain has highlighted that it is vital to have the tools ready to start mobility and help Europe be considered a safe travel destination once again, as long as the incidence data permits it.
Reyes Maroto urged the European Commission to introduce a coordinated proposal in order to resume the free movement of persons.
Last month, the Members of the European Union parliament announced that they want the block to introduce uniform travel measures for the summer by launching a standard vaccination document that would facilitate the travel process, according to an EU source.
When it comes to the launching of vaccination certificates, European countries have different opinions regarding the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic outbreak.
While Denmark, Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Estonia, Iceland, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Spain and Sweden, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have supported the idea, Germany, France and Romania do not consider the plan as an effective one.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization Committee did not back such an initiative as, according to them, the vaccine’s effect on reducing transmission is still not known.
The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was among the first persons to urge the European Union governments to introduce a vaccination passport.
He previously addressed a letter to the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen calling on the European Union to support the idea.
In April last year, an EU official warned that once the vaccines start to roll out in the European countries, they will soon become mandatory. Back then, the official stressed that two things would become mandatory for travellers in the future.
The first would be the testing process for all persons travelling to the Schengen Zone. The second would be to take the vaccine against the Coronavirus pandemic once vaccines are approved and effectively reduce transmission.