Vaccination passport to unlock Europe for UK tourists

Ursula von der Leyen, the commission president, announced the vaccination passport scheme.

European leaders in Brussels have pledged that a vaccination passport scheme will be open to British travellers in time to save the summer holidays.

A proposal for a “digital green pass” will be put forward by the European Commission on March 17 to “kick start” tourism by the end of June.

Ursula von der Leyen, the commission president, announced the plan after European Union leaders agreed last week that a Covid-19 certificate or “passport” would need to be in place by the summer.

The EU's "digital green pass" would provide proof a person has been vaccinated, and test results for those not yet inoculated.

The UK will discuss with the EU the bloc's proposals to create a vaccine passport that could allow people to travel more freely in time for the summer holidays.

The EU-wide "digital green pass" would provide proof a person has been vaccinated, as well as test results for those not yet inoculated and information on recovery for people who have had COVID-19.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the proposals for the pass, which will "respect data protection, security and privacy", will be set out this month.

"The digital green pass should facilitate Europeans' lives. The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the European Union or abroad - for work or tourism," she said in a tweet.

Compared to the UK, the EU's rollout of coronavirus vaccines has been slow.

EU leaders agreed last week to work on vaccine certificates, with southern European countries including Spain and Greece pushing to unlock tourism this summer.

However, a number of nations say before that, it needs to be established that vaccinated people cannot transmit COVID-19 to others.

Some countries, such as France and Belgium, have also expressed concern that easing travel only for inoculated people would be unfair.

The European Commission said it would seek to avoid discrimination against citizens who have not received a vaccine, coordinate on security standards and help connect national health systems.

Officials from the Department for Transport (DfT) will speak to the EU about the approach it is planning for the 27-member bloc.