(Bloomberg) -- European Union negotiators agreed on the introduction of mutually recognizable certificates that will allow quarantine-free travel within the bloc, offering the region’s battered tourist industry a chance to salvage the summer season.

The EU’s Covid-19 certificates will offer proof their holders have been inoculated against the coronavirus, have recovered from the illness and are thus considered immune, or have a recent negative test. All EU member states will accept visitors in possession of such passes, without asking them to quarantine.

The introduction of certificates that will ease travel within the EU follows a deal between member states this week to also allow inoculated tourists from outside the bloc to visit, as long as they can offer proof of full vaccination at least 14 days prior to their arrival.

The new rules, agreed between representatives of the European Parliament and the bloc’s 27 governments on Thursday, are still subject to a formal approval process before they are enacted into law, applying across the EU at the end of June. Crucially, EU member states will also accept proof of vaccination issued by non-European governments.

With the bulk of the population in the U.S., the U.K., and the EU due to be vaccinated by July, the new rules will allow a gradual return to a semblance of normalcy, handing a boost to tourism-dependent economies such as Croatia, Cyprus, Spain and Portugal. While all 27 governments will be required to waive quarantine requirements for those inoculated with shots approved by the bloc’s drugs regulator, the rules also allow leeway to accept any other vaccines that have been cleared for use by the World Health Organization.

Individual countries such as Greece already accept visitors able to offer vaccination proof or a negative test, without asking them to quarantine. The new EU-wide streamlined rules will replace national vaccination certificates and a group of EU members is already running test versions of the system.

A gauge of European travel and leisure stocks has gained 13.5% this year, amid expectations that an accelerating vaccination rollout will boost airlines and hotels following an unprecedented slump in 2020.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.