EU Digital COVID Certificate: Commission adopts equivalence decisions for Vatican and San Marino certificates

The Commission has adopted decisions ensuring that COVID-19 certificates issued by the Vatican City State and San Marino will be considered equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. This means that both countries will be connected to the EU’s system and that COVID certificates issued by the Vatican and San Marino will be accepted in the EU under the same conditions as the EU Digital COVID Certificate. In practice, holders of these certificates will be able to use these certificates under the same conditions as holders of an EU Digital COVID Certificate. At the same time, the Vatican and San Marino have indicated that they would accept EU Digital COVID Certificates for travel to their countries. Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said: “I am pleased to see that more countries are implementing a system based on the EU Digital COVID Certificate. We are taking active steps to recognise certificates issued by other third countries. However, they must be interoperable with the EU framework and allow for the verification of their authenticity, validity and integrity.” The Commission decisions on the equivalence of the Vatican and San Marino COVID certificates are available online. The Commission is also working on connecting other third countries. It checks if their certificates are interoperable with the EU Digital COVID Certificate, allowing for the verification of their authenticity, validity and integrity. The Commission can issue an equivalence decision establishing its equivalence with the EU Digital COVID Certificate. More information on the EU Digital COVID Certificate can be found on the dedicated website and Q&A.