Statement by President von der Leyen ahead of the first leg of her tour of the capitals

Good morning,

Before Easter, we promised to the Europeans that we will do everything possible so that they can gain back some normality when planning for their well-deserved summer holidays. So on Monday, the European Parliament and the Council signed the Regulation for the EU Digital COVID Certificate. It is applicable from 1 July on, but if you want to, as a Member State, you can sign up early voluntarily.

And that is what Belgium did. Belgium allows, as of today, to travel with the Certificate and they issue these Certificates. And here is mine. So everyone who is fully vaccinated, or tested negative or has recovered from COVID-19, can get one. And we have right now 15 Member States that have already signed up. And from 1 July, all 27 Member States have to apply these EU Digital COVID Certificates.

I am planning now to start my tour through 27 Member States for the NextGenerationEU, our Recovery and Resilience Plan, and I am very curious to test and to see how this Certificate will work.

Thank you.