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The EU Parliament has generally spoken out in favor of introducing a vaccination certificate for traveling within Europe.
A majority of 540 against 119 MPs with 31 abstentions voted on Wednesday evening in Brussels for a corresponding regulation, as announced on Thursday.
However, the MEPs had previously made significant changes to the draft law, which could lead to difficulties in the upcoming negotiations with the EU member states.
For example, Parliament demands that quarantine or test obligations no longer apply to people who have been proven to be vaccinated or who have tested negative when crossing borders within the EU.
The EU states, on the other hand, do not want this to be prescribed.
The MPs also want to rule out vaccines without EU approval in principle.
The original plan was for each member state to be able to decide for itself whether people who were vaccinated with a Russian or Chinese vaccine in Hungary, for example, would be given the same benefits as travelers who have received vaccines approved by the EU medicines agency EMA.
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Against the background that the certificate should also contain negative test results, the MPs also spoke out in favor of free corona tests everywhere in the EU.
The costs have so far varied greatly from country to country.
Certificate from June?
At the request of the member states, the EU Commission initiated the introduction of a so-called green certificate in the corona pandemic.
It should be accessible to all EU citizens, recognized everywhere and thus facilitate cross-border travel.
The details have yet to be negotiated between Parliament and the Council of Member States.
The certificate should be launched in June.
The question of whether the vaccination certificate should also bring benefits to its owners beyond the intended facilitation of travel has not been clarified at EU level. There are plans of this kind in many EU countries. The federal government has not yet made a final decision.