Recital 35

In addition to services in MyHealth@EU for the exchange of personal electronic health data based on the European electronic health record exchange format, other services or supplementary infrastructures could be needed, for example in cases of public health emergencies or where the architecture of MyHealth@EU is not suitable for the implementation of some use cases. Examples of such use cases include support for vaccination card functionalities, including the exchange of information on vaccination plans, or verification of vaccination certificates or other health-related certificates. Such additional use cases would also be important for introducing additional functionality for handling public health crises, such as support for contact tracing for the purposes of containing infectious diseases. MyHealth@EU should support exchanges of personal electronic health data with national contact points for digital health of relevant third countries and systems established at international level by international organisations in order to contribute to the continuity of healthcare. This is particularly relevant for individuals travelling to and from neighbouring third countries, candidate countries, and the associated overseas countries and territories. The connection of such national contact points for digital health of third countries to MyHealth@EU and the interoperability with digital systems established at international level by international organisations should be subject to a check ensuring the compliance of those contact points and digital systems with the technical specifications, data protection rules and other requirements of MyHealth@EU. In addition, given that the connection to MyHealth@EU will entail transfers of personal electronic health data to third countries, such as sharing a patient summary when the patient seeks care in that third country, relevant transfer instruments under Chapter V of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 should be put in place. The Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts to facilitate the connection of such national contact points for digital health of third countries and systems established at international level by international organisations to MyHealth@EU. When preparing those implementing acts, the Commission should take into account Member States’ national security interests.