Portuguese Minister Urges Creation of Vaccination Certificate to End Testing at EU Borders
Posted date: 23 Jul 2021
The idea of creating the so-called vaccination certificate, which would facilitate the travel between European countries has also been supported by Portugal’s authorities.
According to Portugal’s Minister of the Interior Eduardo Cabrita, a vaccination certificate should prove safety and abolish some requirements at the European Union’s internal borders, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Cabrita’s comments came during the meeting held with European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson. Minister Cabrita stressed that the document “should act as proof of security and do away with certain requirements at borders – in particular, the requirement for PCR tests”.
The European Union Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, supported the idea; while pointing out that the plan should first be discussed among the EU countries, to reach a joint agreement in this regard.
Up to this point, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Iceland, as well as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have supported the launching of the vaccination certificate.
Last year an EU official told SchengenVisaInfo.com that all internationals seeking to travel to the Schengen Area countries, once the vaccines start to rollout, they must prove that they have been vaccinated against the Coronavirus pandemic, to be allowed to enter Schengen countries.
However, the Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization Committee (WHO) opposed the proposal, adding that “the impact of vaccines on reducing transmission is not yet known.”
In this regard, authorities in Paris stressed that it is too early to have such a discussion.In a video conference of the members of the European Council held on Thursday, the leaders agreed to work on a standardised and interoperable form of proof of vaccination for medical purposes, while claiming they would determine at a later stage in what circumstances these certificates could be used.
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