Europe to allow vaccinated US summer tourists

ANKARA

Europe will allow fully vaccinated American tourists to visit EU countries this summer, according to the head of 27 nation-bloc in a report on Sunday.

"The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the New York Times in Brussels. "This will enable free movement and the travel to the European Union."

"Because one thing is clear: All 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by E.M.A.," she said.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is the EU's regulator in medicinal products, has so far approved all three vaccines being used in the US -- Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

While von der Leyen did not provide specifics on a timeline, details and need for vaccination certificates, removing current trans-Atlantic travel restrictions is expected to partially improve the pandemic-hit European economy, along with the aviation and tourism industries.