Europe extends the Covid certificate until 2023

Europe has not forgotten the covid crisis by extending the European health pass Foto : Fred Romero / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

(Elsa Woeffler) – The epidemic situation in Europe seems to be stabilizing. According to data collected by Reuters, Europe counts currently at least 116 720 cases of Covid-19, as of June 12, 2022. The last epidemic peak had been reached in January, with more than one million cases. The figures are therefore low, but they must be treated with caution. Despite a significant decrease and despite the withdrawal of the mask obligation, caution is required. Indeed, the health authorities have alerted the European institutions to a key point: the Covid-19 epidemic is not over, far from it. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have therefore jointly agreed to extend the health pass for another year.

This decision was taken jointly last Monday and will apply from June, 30. The European Health Pass, which is a regulation on the European Union’s digital Covid certificate for travel within Europe, was introduced in July 2021 and has now been renewed until June 2023. Although some countries have stopped asking for it from travelers and people transiting through their territories, the European authorities have decided to extend it, in case the epidemiological situation becomes critical again. Indeed, this health pass, although controversial, has allowed the European Union to control the entry and exit of citizens and foreigners transiting the territory, reducing contamination.

Even if public attention is currently focussed on the Ukraine war, the “summer wave” is already running. Germany just indicated an incidence of 472, which means that the figures are already increasing. Considering that no European government would intervene before the holiday season, it is quite likely that this “summer wave” will cause some harm even before automn.

However, legislators want to return to the free movement of travelers within the European community without restriction. This decision is in contrast to the desire to facilitate free and safe travel.