The European Union Wednesday said it has accepted COVID-19 certificates from seven more non-EU countries as equivalent to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. The seven countries are Albania, Andorra, Faroe Islands, Israel, Monaco, Morocco and Panama, said a European Commission press release. As a result, the seven countries and territories will be connected to the EU's system and the COVID certificates they issue will be accepted in the EU under the same conditions as EU Digital COVID Certificates. EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said: "During this summer we have seen that citizens are able to travel safely thanks to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. This is a win-win situation." He noted that since June, more than 420 million EU certificates have been issued and welcomed that more and more countries outside the EU are joining the EU system. "A total number of 42 countries — 27 EU member states and 15 non-EU countries — are now taking part in the EU Digital COVID Certificate system, confirming the EU certificate as an international standard," he added. ( The EU Digital COVID Certificate (formerly called Digital Green Certificate) is used to facilitate safe free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic within the EU. It is to serve as proof that a person was vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result or recovered from COVID-19. The certificate can be used across all EU member states as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The EU Digital COVID Certificate system covers three different types of COVID-19 certificates: a vaccination certificate, a test certificate, and a certificate of recovery. The EU certificate only includes a minimum set of information necessary to confirm and verify the holder's vaccination, testing or recovery status. The EU Digital COVID Certificate will serve as proof of vaccination, testing and recovery, which can be used across all EU member states. When traveling, every EU Digital COVID Certificate holder will have the same rights as citizens of the visited member state who were vaccinated, tested or recovered from COVID-19. — Agencies
