BETA


2021/3056(DEA) Acceptance period of vaccination certificates issued in the EU Digital COVID Certificate format indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series

Progress: Procedure completed - delegated act enters into force

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead LIBE
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 114-p03

Events

2022/03/01
   EP - Delegated act not objected by Parliament
2022/02/15
   EP - Decision by Parliament
2022/02/09
   EP - Motion for a resolution objecting delegated act
Documents
2022/01/19
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2021/12/21
   EC - Non-legislative basic document published
Details

This Commission Delegated Regulation amends the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/953 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the acceptance period of vaccination certificates issued in the EU Digital COVID Certificate format indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series.

Background

The EU Digital COVID Certificate framework established by Regulation (EU) 2021/953 allows for the issuance, cross-border verification and acceptance of three types of COVID-19 certificates. One of these is the vaccination certificate, that is, a certificate confirming that the holder has received a COVID-19 vaccine in the Member State issuing the certificate.

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/953, each Member State is to, automatically or upon request by the persons concerned, issue vaccination certificates to persons to whom a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered. In terms of categories of personal data, the vaccination certificate should contain a set of data that should be included in the vaccination certificate in accordance with the specific data fields indicated in point 1 of the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/953.

When Regulation (EU) 2021/953 was adopted, insufficient data was available as to the duration of protection resulting from the completion of the primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine. As a result, the data fields to be included in vaccination certificates in accordance with the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/953 do not include data concerning an acceptance period, unlike the data fields to be included in certificates of recovery.

According to currently available evidence, booster doses will increase protection against severe outcomes caused by the ‘Delta’ variant of concern, and preliminary evaluations also suggest boosters could increase protection against the ‘Omicron’ variant.

In connection with the administration of booster doses, more and more Member States are adopting rules as to how long vaccination certificates indicating the completion of primary vaccination series should be accepted, taking into account that the resulting protection from infection with COVID-19 appears to be waning over time. Unilateral measures in this area are likely to cause disruption and undermine confidence in the EU digital COVID certificate.

To avoid diverging and disruptive measures, it is thus necessary to establish, for the purpose of travel, a standard acceptance period of 270 days for vaccination certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series.

This proposal takes into account the guidance of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control regarding the administration of booster doses as of six months after completion of the primary vaccination series and provides for an additional period of three months to ensure that national vaccination campaigns can adjust and citizens can have access to the administration of boosters.

Content

In order to ensure a coordinated approach, this delegated Regulation amends the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/953 concerning the data fields to be included in the vaccination certificate in order to establish, for the purpose of travel, a standard acceptance period of 270 days for vaccination certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series.

Specifically, Member States should not accept vaccination certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series if more than 270 days have passed since the administration of the dose indicated therein. At the same time, they should not, for the purpose of travel, provide for an acceptance period shorter than 270 days. Within this standard acceptance period, vaccination certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series should continue to be accepted by a Member State even if it is already administering booster doses.

The standard acceptance period of 270 days should apply to certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series, be it a single-dose primary course, a two-dose primary series, or, in line with the vaccination strategy of the Member State of vaccination, a single dose primary course of a two-dose vaccine after having previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2. It should apply to all vaccination certificates, that is, regardless of the COVID-19 vaccine indicated therein.

The standard acceptance period should not be included as a new data field in the vaccination certificate, but should be applied at the level of verification, by adapting the mobile applications used to verify EU Digital COVID Certificates. If a relevant vaccination certificate indicating a date of vaccination exceeding the acceptance period of 270 days is presented to the verifier, the mobile application used for verification should indicate the certificate as expired.

Documents
2021/12/21
   EP/CSL - Initial period for examining delegated act 2 month(s)
2021/04/29
   EP - Matter referred back to the committee responsible

Documents

  • Motion for a resolution objecting delegated act: B9-0092/2022
  • Non-legislative basic document published: C(2021)09920
  • Motion for a resolution objecting delegated act: B9-0092/2022

Activities

Votes

Objection formulée conformément à l’article 111, paragraphe 3, du règlement intérieur: Durée d’acceptation des certificats de vaccination délivrés au format du certificat COVID numérique de l’UE attestant l’achèvement du schéma de primovaccination - Objection pursuant to Rule 111(3): Acceptance period of vaccination certificates issued in the EU Digital COVID Certificate format indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series - Einwand gemäß Artikel 111 Absatz 3 GO: Anerkennungszeitraum von Impfzertifikaten, die im Format des digitalen COVID-Zertifikats der EU ausgestellt werden und den Abschluss der ersten Impfserie bescheinigen - B9-0092/2022 - Proposition de résolution (ensemble du texte) #

2022/02/15 Outcome: -: 525, +: 154, 0: 20
PL CY IT LT EE MT HR LU LV IE BE SI FR FI SK EL DK BG AT SE NL CZ PT HU RO ES DE
Total
52
6
76
11
7
5
12
6
8
13
20
8
79
14
13
21
13
17
19
21
29
21
21
21
32
59
95
icon: ID ID
66

Estonia ID

For (1)

1

Finland ID

2

Denmark ID

For (1)

1
3

Netherlands ID

Against (1)

1

Czechia ID

2
icon: ECR ECR
64

Lithuania ECR

1

Croatia ECR

1

Latvia ECR

2

Slovakia ECR

Against (1)

1

Greece ECR

1

Bulgaria ECR

2

Romania ECR

1

Germany ECR

1
icon: The Left The Left
39

Cyprus The Left

Abstain (1)

2

Ireland The Left

Against (1)

4

Belgium The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Finland The Left

Against (1)

1

Denmark The Left

Against (1)

1

Sweden The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Netherlands The Left

For (1)

1

Czechia The Left

Against (1)

1

Portugal The Left

4
icon: NI NI
40

Lithuania NI

1

Slovakia NI

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Germany NI

For (1)

3
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
72

Poland Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Italy Verts/ALE

4

Lithuania Verts/ALE

Against (1)

2

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Spain Verts/ALE

3
icon: Renew Renew
100

Poland Renew

1

Italy Renew

3

Lithuania Renew

Against (1)

1

Estonia Renew

3

Croatia Renew

Against (1)

1

Luxembourg Renew

2

Latvia Renew

Against (1)

1

Ireland Renew

2

Slovenia Renew

2

Finland Renew

3

Bulgaria Renew

3

Austria Renew

Against (1)

1

Sweden Renew

3

Hungary Renew

2
icon: S&D S&D
144

Cyprus S&D

Against (1)

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

Against (1)

1

Latvia S&D

2

Belgium S&D

For (1)

3

Slovenia S&D

Against (2)

2

Finland S&D

2

Slovakia S&D

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Greece S&D

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Czechia S&D

Against (1)

1
icon: PPE PPE
174

Cyprus PPE

2

Estonia PPE

Against (1)

1

Malta PPE

Against (1)

1

Luxembourg PPE

2

Latvia PPE

2

Slovenia PPE

4

Denmark PPE

Against (1)

1

Hungary PPE

Against (1)

1

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 114-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 114-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 114-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 114-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 114-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 114-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 114-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 114-p03
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/subject/4.20
Public health
procedure/subject/4.20.01
Medicine, diseases
procedure/subject/4.20
Public health
procedure/subject/4.20.01
Medicine, diseases
events/5
date
2022-03-01T00:00:00
type
Delegated act not objected by Parliament
body
EP
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
New
Procedure completed - delegated act enters into force
events/4
date
2022-02-15T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
forecasts
  • date: 2022-02-15T00:00:00 title: Vote in plenary scheduled
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting Parliament's vote
New
Awaiting committee decision
forecasts/0/title
Old
Indicative plenary sitting date
New
Vote in plenary scheduled
docs/0/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2022-0092_EN.html
forecasts
  • date: 2022-02-15T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
docs/0
date
2022-02-09T00:00:00
docs
title: B9-0092/2022
type
Motion for a resolution objecting delegated act
body
EP
docs/0
date
2021-12-21T00:00:00
docs
url: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/regdel/web/delegatedActsLinks/C(2021)09920 title: C(2021)09920
type
Non-legislative basic document
body
EC
procedure/legal_basis
  • Rules of Procedure EP 111-p03
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
New
Awaiting Parliament's vote
events/3
date
2022-01-19T00:00:00
type
Committee referral announced in Parliament
body
EP
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
  • LIBE/9/08039
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting committee decision
events/1/summary
  • This Commission Delegated Regulation amends the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/953 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the acceptance period of vaccination certificates issued in the EU Digital COVID Certificate format indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series.
  • Background
  • The EU Digital COVID Certificate framework established by Regulation (EU) 2021/953 allows for the issuance, cross-border verification and acceptance of three types of COVID-19 certificates. One of these is the vaccination certificate, that is, a certificate confirming that the holder has received a COVID-19 vaccine in the Member State issuing the certificate.
  • Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/953, each Member State is to, automatically or upon request by the persons concerned, issue vaccination certificates to persons to whom a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered. In terms of categories of personal data, the vaccination certificate should contain a set of data that should be included in the vaccination certificate in accordance with the specific data fields indicated in point 1 of the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/953.
  • When Regulation (EU) 2021/953 was adopted, insufficient data was available as to the duration of protection resulting from the completion of the primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine. As a result, the data fields to be included in vaccination certificates in accordance with the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/953 do not include data concerning an acceptance period, unlike the data fields to be included in certificates of recovery.
  • According to currently available evidence, booster doses will increase protection against severe outcomes caused by the ‘Delta’ variant of concern, and preliminary evaluations also suggest boosters could increase protection against the ‘Omicron’ variant.
  • In connection with the administration of booster doses, more and more Member States are adopting rules as to how long vaccination certificates indicating the completion of primary vaccination series should be accepted, taking into account that the resulting protection from infection with COVID-19 appears to be waning over time. Unilateral measures in this area are likely to cause disruption and undermine confidence in the EU digital COVID certificate.
  • To avoid diverging and disruptive measures, it is thus necessary to establish, for the purpose of travel, a standard acceptance period of 270 days for vaccination certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series.
  • This proposal takes into account the guidance of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control regarding the administration of booster doses as of six months after completion of the primary vaccination series and provides for an additional period of three months to ensure that national vaccination campaigns can adjust and citizens can have access to the administration of boosters.
  • Content
  • In order to ensure a coordinated approach, this delegated Regulation amends the Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/953 concerning the data fields to be included in the vaccination certificate in order to establish, for the purpose of travel, a standard acceptance period of 270 days for vaccination certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series.
  • Specifically, Member States should not accept vaccination certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series if more than 270 days have passed since the administration of the dose indicated therein. At the same time, they should not, for the purpose of travel, provide for an acceptance period shorter than 270 days. Within this standard acceptance period, vaccination certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series should continue to be accepted by a Member State even if it is already administering booster doses.
  • The standard acceptance period of 270 days should apply to certificates indicating the completion of the primary vaccination series, be it a single-dose primary course, a two-dose primary series, or, in line with the vaccination strategy of the Member State of vaccination, a single dose primary course of a two-dose vaccine after having previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2. It should apply to all vaccination certificates, that is, regardless of the COVID-19 vaccine indicated therein.
  • The standard acceptance period should not be included as a new data field in the vaccination certificate, but should be applied at the level of verification, by adapting the mobile applications used to verify EU Digital COVID Certificates. If a relevant vaccination certificate indicating a date of vaccination exceeding the acceptance period of 270 days is presented to the verifier, the mobile application used for verification should indicate the certificate as expired.
docs/0/docs/0/url
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/regdel/web/delegatedActsLinks/C(2021)09920
events/1/docs/0/url
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/regdel/web/delegatedActsLinks/C(2021)09920