Spotlight on the EU digital COVID certificate
In March, the European Commission presented a proposal to create an EU digital COVID certificate (EUDCC) to facilitate the free movement of citizens within the EU during the pandemic, without it posing a risk to public health. The procedures for the launch of the certificate were completed on 14 June when the presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission signed the EUDCC regulation. It was then up to the Member States to connect to the technical backbone of the system, the EUDCC gateway, through which they can verify the authenticity of certificates issued across Europe.
Available to EU citizens and their family members, regardless of their nationality, and to non-EU nationals who reside in the EU, the EUDCC is valid throughout the EU and the Schengen area (i.e. it is valid in all EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). It is accessible in both digital and paper-based format to travellers who have been fully vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, those who have recently recovered from COVID-19 and those who have recently tested negative for COVID-19.
‘The European digital COVID certificate reassures us of the spirit of an open Europe, a Europe without barriers but also a Europe that is, slowly but surely, opening up after the most difficult time of the pandemic. This certificate is a symbol of an open and digital Europe,’ said the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, following the official signing ceremony for the EUDCC regulation.
The summer edition of our newsletter features publications related to the EUDCC and vaccination progress, along with several other interesting topics. We hope that you enjoy them and wish you a nice, safe summer. We will be back with you in September.
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The European Commission has been working for over a year to build one of the broadest portfolios of vaccines that are safe, effective and affordable. These represent our best chance to put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. This factsheet provides the latest updates on the EU vaccine portfolio. |
Available in all the official languages of the EU |
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DATASET |
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This dataset from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control provides an overview of the progress in the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in adults across the EU and the European Economic Area. It presents the number of vaccine doses distributed by manufacturers to each Member State for different COVID-19 vaccines and the number of first, second or overall doses administered to adult individuals. The information can be visualised via interactive maps, graphs and tables. |
Available in English |
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HERA incubator |
We must be prepared to tackle new variants of COVID-19, by rapidly developing vaccines that are effective against those variants and enabling the large-scale production of these new vaccines. This is why the European Commission has launched the HERA incubator described in this factsheet. |
Available in all the official languages of the EU |
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This report assesses the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on EU public administrations. It aims at showcasing EU Member States’ good practices with regard to the development and/or implementation of digital solutions to guarantee access to public services, ensure the continuity of education and support businesses. These digital solutions encompass, among other things, mobile applications, online portals, online platforms, informative chatbots and repositories. |
Available in English |
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This report provides an overview of the main developments and achievements of European countries with regard to the digitalisation of the public sector between 2017 and 2020 and the measures implemented by the European Commission to enable these countries to achieve their goals. A proposal for further progress in this domain is also put forward, concluding that the digitalisation of public administrations strongly depends on Member States’ capacity to tackle interoperability challenges. |
Available in English |
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The climate crisis in a COVID-19 world: calls for a green recovery |
The third edition of the European Investment Bank climate survey shows that COVID-19 has changed people’s perception of the climate emergency as they now consider the pandemic to be the greatest challenge. Nevertheless, climate change remains a crucial issue. Europeans believe that the economic recovery from the crisis must address climate change and that governments should promote growth that emits less CO2 and makes societies more resilient to climate change. These findings are particularly important since the climate and a green recovery are top priorities in the EU and many other regions of the world. |
Available in English |
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The Fundamental Rights Report 2021 reviews major developments in the field in 2020, identifying both achievements and areas of concern. This year’s focus chapter explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fundamental rights. |
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Trends and developments |
The European drug report presents a top-level overview of the drug phenomenon in Europe, covering drug supply and use, public health problems, and drug policy and responses. |
Available in all the official languages of the EU except Irish and Maltese; also in Norwegian and Turkish. |
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Around the world, disinformation is spreading and becoming an increasingly complex phenomenon because of emerging deception techniques. Disinformation undermines human rights and many elements of democracy but counter-disinformation measures can also have a prejudicial impact on human rights and democracy. This study proposes steps the EU can take to build counter-disinformation more seamlessly into its global human rights and democracy policies. |
Available in English |
Research and innovation
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Virtual reality symbolises many of the most positive perceptions of the future. The idea of fully immersive, realistic digital environments that can allow you to get completely lost in another world or a gripping narrative (or both) is incredibly enticing. Find out more in the special feature of this month’s Research*eu, the magazine that brings you the results of EU-funded research and innovation. You can also find the related podcast here. |
Available in English
(Individual article also available in English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish on the CORDIS website)
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In response to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the European Council agreed on the next generation EU (NGEU) instrument. NGEU allows the European Commission to issue debt to finance grants and loans to EU Member States, with the disbursement of funds intended to be weighted towards the countries most affected by the crisis. This paper assesses the macroeconomic impact on the euro area of different uses of NGEU. |
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Facial emotion recognition. Issue 1, 2021 |
Facial emotion recognition is the technology that analyses facial expressions from both static images and videos in order to reveal information on one’s emotional state. The complexity of facial expressions, the potential use of the technology in any context and the involvement of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, raise significant privacy risks. Find out more in TechDispatch, a publication by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), which monitors technological developments with an impact on the protection of personal data. |
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The infiltration and undermining of Europe’s economy and society by organised crime |
This is the 2021 EU serious and organised crime threat assessment: the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation’s flagship report, delivering an insight into and assessment of serious and organised crime in the EU. Relying on a combination of operational insights, strategic intelligence and input from academia and the private and public sectors, the report offers a multi-disciplinary and broad assessment of criminal threats. |
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From the financial crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic: looking back to move forward |
The economic policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic broke new ground in terms of ambition, tools used, and institutional characteristics. This policy brief argues that three sets of factors explain this: our evolving understanding of macroeconomics; the nature of the current crisis; and the policy learning that stemmed from the financial crisis. It also reviews the emerging institutional landscape at EU level, with its rules-based and institutional features, and assesses critical factors for the successful implementation of the recovery and resilience plans at national level. |
Available in English |
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