The result of the vote on the digital green certificate was published on Wednesday morning with a large majority of MEPs (546) voting for the measure. Around one million digital certificates have already been issued by Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Poland and Spain.

Member countries must introduce national systems to issue the certificates with a QR code and digital signature that can be scanned for verification. The European Commission has built a gateway through which the certificates can be verified across member states and provided €135m to governments for their national components.

“This certificate is all about giving people trust that they can book a hotel or a flight and plan a holiday or visit family and loved ones,” said Spanish MEP and rapporteur Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D). “The summer of 2020 was a nightmare, but this has been pushed through and is ready for summer 2021. It means that free movement has been given back to citizens.”

The data contained in the certificate cannot be retained by visited countries. For verification purposes, only the validity and authenticity are checked. All health data remains with the member country that issued the document.

“I must stress that all member states will be bound by this same EU law. It respects EU data protection standards and means that while there will be free movement of people there will be no free movement of data,” the rapporteur said.

Luxembourg’s national check system is expected to launch on 13 June as new covid-19 laws come into place that rely heavily on proof of immunity or a negative test.

For example, under the new rules, events of up to 300 people can go ahead without distancing or masks if all participants have passed the covid check. Similarly, restaurants can resume unrestricted service indoors if all diners provide a certificate. The grand duchy also reserves the option for people to take a rapid antigen test on site for people who don’t possess a certificate.

The Chamber of Deputies will meet on Friday or Saturday to vote on the new laws, which must come into force on 13 June as the current set of rules expires on the 12th.

Updated on 9 June at 10.45am to include the results of the European Parliament vote.