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MARIO DRAGHI

EU travel green pass ‘ready by mid-June’, says Italy’s PM

The European "green pass" for travel and events will be ready by the middle of next month, said Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi at a press conference on Tuesday.

Published: 25 May 2021 19:38 CEST
EU travel green pass 'ready by mid-June', says Italy's PM
Photo: Filiippo Monteforte/AFP

Following a meeting with the European Union council, Draghi told reporters the so-called “green pass”, a health certificate that allows travel without quarantine, “will be ready by mid-June” – sooner than indicated by other EU officials.

Draghi’s comments came after the European Parliament and the 27 member states reached an agreement last week on the EU Digital Covid Certificate.

The Italian prime minister gave an earlier release date compared to the EU Commission’s announcement, which estimated the certificate is “well on track to be ready end of June, as planned”.

READ ALSO: What’s the latest on how the EU’s ‘Covid passports’ will work for travellers?

Meanwhile Italy’s Minister for Technological Innovation, Vittorio Colao, told a tech forum earlier this week that several technical details of Italy’s digital certificate were still being worked out.

He estimated that “we’ll be ready around mid-June and it will start from July 1st”.

“European citizens are looking forward to travelling again,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement “means they will be able to do so safely very soon,” she added.

The digital health certificate is intended to make travel easier and boost economies dependent on tourism.

Italy’s tourism sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, suffering a staggering loss of more than €120 billion last year compared to 2019.

Draghi said that Italy’s vaccination rollout, which is finally picking up speed, is also aiding plans to reopen the country. “There has been some satisfaction with the way vaccinations are proceeding everywhere and the campaign should accelerate into the summer,” he said.

READ ALSO: What is Italy’s ‘green pass’ for travel and how do you get it?

Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP

The proposed health document will come in both digital and paper form and will show that a person has either been fully vaccinated, recently recovered from the virus (meaning a person has antibodies in their system) or has recently tested negative for Covid.

“The EU Digital Covid Certificate is free of charge, secure and accessible to all. It will cover vaccination, test and recovery offering different options to citizens,” said von der Leyen.

“All EU citizens have a fundamental right to free movement in the EU. The EU Digital Covid Certificate, available in paper or digital format, will make it easier for Europeans to travel – whether to see their families and loved ones or to get some well-deserved rest,” she added.

The Local has contacted the EU Commission to find out how the “green pass” will work in practice. The EU doesn’t plan to create an app and each country will enforce their own regulations surrounding its implementation.

“National wallet apps could be developed, but are not the only option. Integration in existing tracing or other apps, commercial solutions, digital storage of PDFs and of course paper certificates are also possible,” the Commission told us.

READ ALSO:

Italy’s certificazione verde (green pass) was first introduced to allow people in Italy to travel between regions or to travel abroad and return to the country without quarantining.

It’s also expected that those going to weddings and other events involving gatherings will need to get their hands on this health certificate to be able to attend.

For now, a digital version in Italy is not available. Other countries are further ahead in developing their “Covid passports”, but there’s help on hand if Italy needs it.

“To facilitate the work at national level, the Commission has provided a reference app to support Member States to develop their national solution to scan and check the QR codes, a template software for Member States to issue EU Digital COVID Certificate and a reference wallet app for governments to offer to citizens to store EU Digital Covid Certificate,” a spokesperson said.

If you’re coming from outside the European Union though, for now, you will still need to follow quarantine and testing rules, which vary depending on the country you are travelling from.

For more information on the current restrictions and health situation in Italy please see the Health Ministry’s website (in English).

Member comments

  1. The lack of clarity is creating real problems. I am a vaccinated American with a flight arriving in Venice on June 26. Will I be allowed to enter without quarantining? If Italy reopens to non-EU vaccinated visitors in mid-June, I am okay. But does the latest news mean the travel pass won’t be available until July 1? If Italy wants to welcome tourists this summer, we need to know the specific date when international travel will be permitted.

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TRAVEL NEWS

What will Europe’s EES passport checks mean for dual nationals?

The EU's Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport checks will usher in big changes for travellers - here we answer readers' questions on the position for dual nationals.

Published: 22 April 2024 17:10 CEST
What will Europe's EES passport checks mean for dual nationals?

The EU is preparing, after many delays, to introduce the EES system for travel in and out of Europe.

You can find a full explanation of how it works HERE, but in essence it is an enhanced passport check – registering biometric details such as fingerprints and facial scans and introducing an automatic calculation of how long you have stayed within the EU/Schengen zone in order to detect ‘over-stayers’.

And it’s already causing stress for travellers. We asked readers of The Local to share their questions here – and one of the biggest worries was how the system will work for dual nationals ie people who have a passport for both an EU country and a non-EU country.

EES: Your questions answered

EU passports 

One of the main purposes of EES is to detect ‘over-stayers’ – people who have either stayed in the EU longer than their visa allows or non-EU nationals who have over-stayed their allowance of 90 days in every 180.

As this does not apply to EU nationals, people travelling on an EU passport are not required to do EES pre-registration and will continue to travel in the same way once EES is introduced – going to the ‘EU passports queue’ at airports, ports and stations and having their passports scanned as normal.

Non-EU 

Non-EU travellers will, once EES is up and running, be required to complete EES pre-registration.

This means that the first time they cross an EU/Schengen zone external border they will have to go to a special zone of the airport/port/terminal and supply extra passport information including fingerprints and a facial scan.

This only needs to be done once and then lasts for three years.

Non-EU residents of the EU/Schengen zone

This does not apply to non-EU citizens who are permanent residents of an EU country or who have a long-stay visa for an EU/Schengen zone country – click HERE for full details.

Schengen zone passports/Irish passports 

EES applies within the Schengen zone, so people with Swiss, Norwegian and Icelandic passports are treated in the same way as citizens of EU countries.

Ireland and Cyprus are in the EU but not the Schengen zone – these countries will not be using the EES system at their borders, but their citizens are still EU citizens so can continue to use EU passport gates at airports and will be treated the same as all other EU citizens (ie they don’t have to do EES pre-registration).

OK, so what if you have both an EU and a non-EU passport?

They key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any of the rules on immigration – it’s just a way of better enforcing the rules that are already in place. 

Therefore the rules for dual nationals remain as they are – for most people which passport to travel on is a matter of personal choice, although Americans should be aware that if you have a US passport and you are entering the USA, you must use your American passport. 

But it’s also important to remember that the passports of dual nationals are not ‘linked’ – therefore if you present an American passport at the Italian border, you will be treated exactly the same as every other American, there is no way for the border guard to know that you are also Italian.

Likewise if you are a UK-Germany dual national and you travel back to the UK on your German passport, you can expect to be treated the same as every other German at the border, and might be asked for proof of where you are staying in UK, how long you intend to stay etc – the system has no way of knowing that you are also British. 

Therefore whether you have to complete EES pre-registration or not is entirely a matter of which passport you are travelling on – if you use your EU passport you won’t have to do it, if you use your non-EU passport you will.

It’s also possible to use two passports for the same trip – so let’s say you’re travelling from Spain to Canada – you enter Canada on your Canadian passport, and show your Canadian passport again when you leave. However, once you re-enter Spain you show your Spanish passport in order to benefit from the unlimited length of stay.

If you’re travelling between France and the UK via the Eurostar, Channel Tunnel or cross-Channel ferry, you need to remember that the Le Touquet agreement means that French passport checks take place in the UK and vice versa. You can still use both passports, but you just need to keep your wits about you and remember to hand the French one to the French border guards and the British one to British guards.

In terms of avoiding immigration formalities using two passports is the most efficient way for dual nationals to travel, but some people prefer to stick to one passport for simplicity, or don’t want to keep both passports together in case of theft.

Basically it’s a personal choice, but you just need to remember that you will be treated according to the passport that you show – which includes completing EES pre-registration if you’re showing a non-EU passport.

It’s also worth remembering that if the changes do cause border delays (and there are fears that they might especially at the UK-France border), then these will affect all travellers – regardless of their passport. 

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