The approval by the Council of the EU follows that of the European Parliament last week, with the certificate – which attests to vaccination, recovery from the disease or the carrying out a negative screening test – being in force until 30 June 2023.

On February 3, the European Commission proposed extending the EU Covid-19 Digital Certificate by one year, until June 30, 2023, and including high-quality antigen testing.

The community executive stressed, in a statement, that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes Covid-19, continues to be prevalent in the EU and the extension of the certificate will make life and travel easier for EU citizens.

The Commission also proposed that certificates be issued for high-quality, laboratory-based antigen tests and that people participating in vaccine clinical trials be included.

The extension of the validity of the certificate takes effect after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.