This is a developing news story. Please check back for more updates and details.
Several EU Member countries have reacted to the implementation of a European Green Certificate to travel across the region.
While some of them are embracing the initiative to restore tourism and international travel, others are more sceptical about the ethical and logistic implications of such travel document.
Each European country has its own take on the Green Pass, which will presumably mark the route for individual COVID strategies and local policies when it comes to the resuming of tourism and mobility.
Spain, fully on board with vaccination certificates
“We want to be pioneers in the implementation of the Green Pass,” has said Reyes Maroto, Spain’s Minister of Tourism, several times during 2021.
Pedro Sánchez has also said he is fully on board with the coronavirus pass to restart tourism and international travel across the region.
The Spanish government is working full time to use the EU’s COVID certificate in May, during the celebration of the International Tourism Fair (Fitur), which will be held in Madrid.
Meanwhile, the Balearic government has offered to be the first territory in Spain to receive tourists holding the Green Pass certificate created by the European Commission.
The announcement has raised the interest of German and British travellers, who are key for the international tourism of islands such as Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, and Formentera.
Green health corridors between Spain and third countries
More recently, on March 17th, Maroto announced that Spain is developing a “multilateral dimension” for the COVID certificate along with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).wof
Future agreements would mean the green certificate can be valid for travel between Spain and other non-EU countries that do not belong to the Schengen area, according to the Spanish authority.
Maroto’s priority is to reactivate tourism to and from the United Kingdom, now considered a third country by the European Union, and regions with relevant historical ties to Spain such as Latin America.
Greece, the first to propose a COVID pass in Europe
“Regarding the acceptance by the EU of the Green Pass, we are very happy that our proposal was adopted,” has said Greece’s Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis via Twitter on March 17th.
Greece was the first EU country to suggest the creation of a vaccination certificate to restore tourism and the European economies.
Theoharis has also assured Europeans that “this initiative will move forward quickly and the legal and technical procedures will be accelerated to catch up with the summer.”
Austria: Green Pass will be rolled out “as early as April”
“Our approach was successful: the Digital Green Pass is coming,” tweeted Elisabeth Köstinger, Austria’s Minister for Sustainability and Tourism just before the official approval of the European Commission, on March 17th.
According to the Austrian officer, Europe’s Green Certificate will make mobility safer and travel possible again. She has also confirmed the implementation of the EU COVID Pass in Austria will begin “as early as April.”
The Alpine country was one of the EU Member State that supported the idea of a coronavirus passport from the very beginning.