On Wednesday, 14 April, members of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima met with Latvian MEPs to discuss and adopt the position prepared by the Ministry of Health regarding the Digital Green Certificate of the European Union (EU). The Certificate will facilitate safe, free movement within the EU during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

A proposal to allow individual Member States to impose additional travel restrictions on countries with high infection rates was added to Latvia’s position, noted Vita Anda Tērauda, Chair of the European Affairs Committee.

Several Member States have already introduced their own vaccination certificates to relieve travellers of certain restrictions. To establish a standardised approach regarding these certificates, common conditions for issuing a COVID‑19 vaccination, test, or recovery certificate are necessary, as well as unified technical solutions for the verification of these certificates, stressed Tērauda.

Currently, the main requirements for the Digital Green Certificate are: it has to be available in a printed or digital format, or both; it has to be available in the country’s official language and in English; it has to be easy to read, issued free of charge, and the issuing process has to be as simple as possible, explained the Ministry of Health.

“In today’s debate regarding the timeframe, we decided on the end of June this year, with a transition period of one month, meaning that the Digital Green Certificate would be introduced by the end of July. Latvia is planning to introduce the Digital Green Certificate in mid‑June,” explained Tērauda.

The European Commission presented a proposal regarding the development of the Digital Green Certificate on 17 March 2021.

According to the proposal, EU Members should agree on a common format and contents of the Digital Green Certificate. Members will have to support and ensure the ability to securely verify three types of certificates: a vaccination certificate attesting that its holder has received a COVID‑19 vaccine; a test certificate proving that its holder has received a negative COVID‑19 test result and showing the date of the test; a recovery certificate issued to people who have recovered from COVID‑19. The Ministry of Health noted that, additionally, the Certificate should specify that it is not a travel document.

Saeima Press Service