European Union countries agreed on Wednesday to relax COVID-19 travel restrictions for non-EU citizens ahead of the summer tourist season, Reuters reported.

The ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved the European Commission's proposal from May 3 to relax the criteria for determining “safe” countries and allow the entry of tourists from non-EU countries who are fully vaccinated.

A new list of countries is expected to be released this or early next week. Based on data from the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the UK and a number of other countries would meet the new criteria.

The United States would not, although vaccinated US citizens would be allowed to travel to the EU.

According to the restrictions in place currently, tourists from only seven countries, including Australia, Israel and Singapore, can enter the EU regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.