EU countries agreed on Wednesday to allow fully vaccinated tourists from around the world to enter the EU.

This was stated by the Commission's spokesperson for home affairs Christian Wigand at a press briefing.

The decision in principle was made by the countries' EU ambassadors (Coreper).

The decision applies to all non-essential travel that has received the last recommended dose of vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

This means that people traveling into the EU should avoid quarantine and PCR testing.

At the same time, the countries agreed about an emergency brake. If the spread of infection increases rapidly with new variants in a country, EU countries should be able to temporarily limit travel to a minimum.

The Commission presented the proposal on 3 May.

Particularly tourist-dependent EU countries around the Mediterranean are prepared to let in visitors from the rest of the world.

Essential travel has been permitted throughout the pandemic, including travel for healthcare professionals and freight, as well as travel for family and humanitarian reasons.

Source: Direct News Agency