The European Union (EU) agreed today to open up its borders to vaccinated travelers. A firm date for the change to take effect is not yet set but final formal approval is not in doubt. One catch for travelers is that their vaccinations must be approved for use within the EU. This is not a problem for Americans but vaccines manufactured in China and Russia will no be approved.

The three vaccines available for Americans are all also used in European Union countries – Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen. This decision is being made just ahead of the beginning of the summer tourist season. Welcoming Americans into EU countries is nuanced – the U.S. is not yet considered a safe country but fully vaccinated Americans will be admitted.

Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved a European Commission proposal from May 3 to loosen the criteria to determine “safe” countries and to let in fully vaccinated tourists from elsewhere.

They are expected to set a new list this week or early next week. Based on data from the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Britain and a number of other countries would meet the new criteria.

The United States would not, although vaccinated Americans would be welcome in Europe.

The distinction between the United States and individual Americans is due to the fact that approval is made by calculating COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. Travelers from some places, though, are allowed into European Union countries with or without being vaccinated. These include Australia, Israel, and Singapore. I assume this is due to the fact that they all have high levels of vaccination participation and have been very restrictive in handling the coronavirus pandemic. There is some concern about the Indian variant in Britain but most European countries are beginning to open up now, ready to get back to some version of normal life.

The current main criterion is that there should be no more than 25 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the previous 14 days. The trend should be stable or decreasing and there should be a sufficient number of tests, which would need to show a minimum percentage of negative tests. Variants of concern can be taken into account.

The Commission proposed raising the case rate to 100. The EU ambassadors opted instead for 75. For inoculated people to gain access, they would need to have received an EU-approved vaccine, with those with a World Health Organization emergency listing will be considered.

An emergency brake would be used to limit the risk of variants entering the bloc.

Denmark, for example, is the latest country to relax travel restrictions to encourage tourism and travel. It is in its third phase of reopening and visitors from other EU countries can visit with fewer restrictions.

The new rules valid from May 14 allow residents of EU and Schengen countries with ‘yellow’ or ‘orange’ status to enter the country. Previously, only urgent travel was permitted.

Travel restrictions remain in place for ‘red’ countries, but at present no EU or Schengen countries fall into this category. So in practice, Denmark is now open to tourism from all EU and Schengen countries.

Travelers will still need to show a negative Covid-19 test before boarding a plane with the exception of ‘yellow’ countries and regions. This includes Finland, Iceland, Malta and Portugal together with three regions of Norway.

Arrivals from ‘orange’ countries who can document full-vaccination or assumed immunity from Covid-19 due to a positive test in the last six months can enter the country freely—with a negative test result. Those who cannot will be required to self-isolate for at least four days until a negative test result is o

Travel advisors report that American senior citizens are already booking flights to Europe. Many older Americans list the desire to travel as a top reason for getting vaccinated.

It’s what travel advisor Hillel Spinner keeps seeing among his older clients.

“Between February and March, I’ve noticed an increase of about 110%. And the reason for that is they’ve been vaccinated, they feel safe to travel again, the world is their oyster, they’re like where can I go now?” he said.

A recent survey by the American Society of Travel Advisors finds 44% of those polled say being able to travel is the main reason why they’re getting vaccinated. And two thirds of those surveyed feel the vaccine will enable them to do so.

Jim Moses is the President and CEO of Road Scholar which provides educational travel tours for older adults.

He said, “It’s been unbelievable. We’ve seen about a 50% increase in the numbers of people who are enrolling in programs. They’re so excited.”

Countries around the world are trying to get back to normal after more than a year of disruptions and financial disasters. The travel industry was one of the first to be shut down. It’s good news that not only America but Europe is heading to a more normal summer this year, including traveling for those who traditionally do so.