EU to propose a 'digital pass' for COVID-19 vaccination/test status to help safer travel

The EC has said it will present a legislative plan later this month for what it's calling a "digital green pass" -- aka a digital certificate -- which it says will be aimed at facilitating cross-border travel in the age of coronavirus. President Ursula von der Leyen said today that the planned digital tool will aim to provide proof that a person has been vaccinated -- but not just that; the "digital green pass" will also display the results of tests, i.e. for those who have been unable to get a vaccine yet, along with information on "COVID-19 recovery". "It will respect data protection, security and privacy," von der Leyen added in a couple of tweets. "The Digital Green Pass should facilitate Europeans' lives," she also said. "The aim is to gradually enable them to move safely in the European Union or abroad -- for work or tourism." The Commission will release details of the legislative plan on March 17. The EU's executive is keen for a pan-EU system to be set up to avoid fragmentation of the bloc's single market -- such as if individual Member States strike their own bilateral deals. Or to avoid a third-party commercial system gaining ground.<br/>