Ireland announced last week that international travel will reopen on July 19, when all EU countries will be taken off the mandatory hotel quarantine list.
With the EU Digital Certificate due to come into place on July 1, facilitating free movement for EU citizens, we take a look at all countries ready to welcome Irish tourists.
Currently, countries within the EU are being ranked as follows:
Countries effectively connected issuing and verifying at least one EU Digital Covid Certificate
The following countries have begun issuing the Certs already:
Czechia
Denmark
Germany
Greece
Poland
Croatia
Countries ready to connect
The majority of EU countries are categorised as technically ready to connect to the EU Digital COVID Certificate Gateway.
This means when the country is ready to open its borders or come July 1, free travel will resume depending on the country's own restrictions.
The counties included on this list are:
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Estonia
France
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
The Netherlands
Portugal
Romania
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Still in the test phase
All other EU countries are in the test phase of the EU Digital Green Cert.
The EU Digital Cert will give digital proof that a person has either been vaccinated against Covid, received a negative PCR test, or has recovered from Covid.
The EU Digital Certificate will be accepted in all EU Member States and will ensure that restrictions in place will be lifted across Europe in a coordinated way.
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The Certs will be issued by National Authorities and can be stored on a mobile device.
Not so tech-savvy people can request a paper version of the cert. Both will have a QR code that contains essential information and a digital signature to ensure authenticity.
The holder will be exempt from free movement restrictions.
The Green Cert will be free of charge and readily available to all citizens.
