This means that the countries will be connected to the EU's system and that COVID certificates issued by North Macedonia, Turkey, and Ukraine will be accepted in the EU, as of tomorrow, under the same conditions as the EU Digital COVID Certificate.

At the same time, North Macedonia, Turkey and Ukraine have agreed to accept the EU Digital COVID Certificate for travel from the EU to their countries. Their participation in the EU's Digital COVID Certificate will thus facilitate safe travel to and from the EU.

“I am pleased to see that the list of countries implementing a system based on the EU Digital COVID Certificate is growing steadily and we are setting standards internationally. This will help to facilitate safe travel, also beyond the borders of our Union,” said Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice.

Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, said: “As we fight the pandemic together, our partners are also an integral part of opening up safely together. I welcome Ukraine, North Macedonia, and Turkey in our Digital COVID Certificate system and look forward to more of our neighbours connecting soon.” The three decisions adopted today will enter into force as of tomorrow, 20 August 2021, and are available online. The Commission continues cooperating with other third countries to connect them to the EU system.”

EU Digital COVID Certificate

The EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC), also called the Green Pass, came into force on 1 July 2021 and eases travel across all 27 member states, and additionally Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein.

More than 200 million EU covid certificates have been generated.

A certificate can be issued to a person who has been vaccinated with an EMA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, has recently recovered from COVID-19, or has recently had a negative PCR test.

According to the EU, children under the age of 6 should also be exempted from travel-related testing.

The certificate contains a digitally signed QR code and is available on paper or as PDF. Reference software and app source code have been published by the EU.