The European Union (EU) has authorised the use of the PeduliLindungi application in the region, starting Wednesday 11th May 2022.
The ratification is expected to facilitate Indonesian and European Union citizens travelling to the bloc. Indonesian citizens visiting the EU no longer need to register a QR code separately while EU citizens travelling to Indonesia no longer need to download the PeduliLindungi application.
In a statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Brussels, the ratification was carried out through a decision to recognise the equality of vaccination certifications issued by Indonesia. With this equalisation, the QR code in the application is readable across the 27 member countries of the European Union.
“It is hoped that it can contribute to the increasing interest of European tourists who will visit Indonesia in the upcoming holiday season,” noted the statement as quoted by Antara on Thursday 12th May.
Meanwhile, the EU’s Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said that Indonesia has joined the EU’s COVID-19 Digital Certificate system which is connected to 27 countries. The Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the European Union, Andri Hadi, said this mutual recognition is a tangible form of strengthening EU-Indonesian cooperation.
Most European countries have gradually relaxed their COVID-19 restrictions. However, the COVID-19 vaccine certificate system remains an important tool to support mobility within the EU.
Indonesia has been included on the EU’s white list since November 2021. Therefore, Indonesian citizens can travel to the region. The following is a list of the 27 member states of the European Union:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- The Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
Furthermore, the Indonesian Health Ministry will connect PeduliLindungi with the national health ecosystem platform due to 400 government health applications still not being integrated.
Later, the platform named Indonesia Healthcare System (IHS) will pass the public beta testing phase until 22nd May 22 and thus will not only be limited to handling COVID-19.