This week, the majority of members of the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) rallied behind a motion calling for all holidaymakers to be eligible to be tested for coronavirus before departure free of charge. 

A vaccine is free, so a coronavirus test should be free

The European Union is pushing to get their COVID-19 certificate ready in time for the summer holidays, but there have been some disagreements among member states whether or not anyone who is not vaccinated should get tested for free. 

While the Netherlands appeared to reject the idea, the House of Representatives clearly sees things differently. A motion backed by D66, GroenLinks, ChristenUnie, the Socialist Party (SP), the Labour Party (PvdA), the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), VOLT, and DENK states that all holidaymakers should be eligible for a free test. 

Dutch government and EU to launch coronavirus certificates

“We must prevent a situation in which only people with money can travel, hence our plea for free testing,” explains SP’s Jasper van Dijk. The parties believe that charging holidaymakers for tests would lead to divisions within society. 

On Thursday evening, the EU finalised the details for their certificate, announcing that PCR tests would not be available free of charge but that a fund would be set up to make tests more affordable for low-income families. The Dutch government also hopes to establish its own coronavirus certificate before the summer.