EU countries clear plan to ease cross-border tourism over summer / REUTERS

European Union countries agreed on Friday to an easing of travel restrictions over summer that will allow fully vaccinated tourists to avoid tests or quarantines and broaden the list of EU regions from which it is safe to travel.

That's according to Reuters.

Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states approved a modified European Commission proposal that people who have been fully vaccinated for 14 days should be able to travel freely from one EU country to another, current EU president Portugal said.

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Read alsoFirst EU country to greenlight Ukraine's vaccination certificatesIt is noted restrictions for other travelers should be based on the degree to which the country they are coming from has COVID-19 infections under control.

The revised guidelines come as the EU introduces COVID-19 certificates that will indicate whether a person is vaccinated, has immunity because they were previously infected, or has had a recent negative test.

It is stressed the system is set to be ready by July 1, although some countries will launch certificates earlier.

EU member states will also be able to hit an "emergency brake" to bar all travelers from a region showing a spike in more infectious variants of the disease.

The system is designed also to apply to non-EU members of the open-border Schengen zone – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, but not to former EU member Britain.

Also, visitors from other countries could come as long as they can prove they are vaccinated. Border policy as a whole, though, is a matter for individual EU countries, so they can still set their own rules.

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