EU’s draft vaccine passport law to come this month

Passes will ‘respect data protection, security and privacy,’ says Von der Leyen

The European Commission plans to publish a legislative proposal for coronavirus vaccine passports this month, its president has said.

Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that the planned “digital green passes” would “facilitate Europeans‘ lives” as the continent battles Covid-19.

Following a conference with German politicians, Ms Von der Leyen tweeted that a pass would prove someone had been inoculated – or give test result data if its owner had not had a jab – and provide information on coronavirus recovery.

The certificates would “respect data protection, security & privacy”, she claimed in the post.

Ms Von der Leyen added: “The aim is to gradually enable [people] to move safely in the European Union or abroad, for work or tourism.”

Last week, Angela Merkel said the EU wanted vaccine passports available by summer. Speaking after a virtual summit on Friday the German chancellor said “everyone agreed” such a document was necessary.

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said it was important to unify standards. “None of us will accept that to attract tourists, one country would have looser rules than others and would be taking risks by making people come from the other side of the world to fill up its hotels,” he said.

The EU’s update on its plan came after Britain announced it had given out 20 million first doses of a coronavirus vaccine. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, hailed it as a “magnificent achievement”.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson has indicated that asking for proof of Covid-19 immunity may be banned inside the UK in certain circumstances.

Employers could be blocked from imposing “no jab, no job” rules and businesses prevented from excluding customers based on their inoculation status, following a review led by Michael Gove.