Brit holidaymakers will be able to travel freely across Europe from July without having to quarantine on their return

HOLIDAYMAKERS will be able to travel freely across Europe from July without having to quarantine on their return, under a new No10 plan.

Boris Johnson wants to agree a cross-EU exemption to the order for all arrivals to the UK to isolate for 14 days.

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The controversial policy, drawn up by the PM’s chief of staff Dominic Cummings, came into force at midnight.

But insiders say Boris now wants it watered down as soon as possible.

Senior Cabinet ministers on the Covid-19 Operations Committee meet this week to finalise criteria to start negotiating air and sea bridges, which will be known as ‘international travel corridors’.

A rapid agreement with the EU’s 27 countries is seen as the top priority to allow a sunshine summer holiday for millions of lockdown-weary Brits.

Three out of five take holidays to destinations in the EU.

An EU travel deal is seen as unlikely to be in place by the quarantine system’s first three weekly review point on June 29.

'VERY COMPLEX'

But ministers have set mid-July as their target.

One senior government figure said: “Designing international travel corridors is very complex, not least because they are a cross-Whitehall problem.

“The aim is to have the first ones in place by mid-July, and one with the EU will be the first.”

Boris and French president Emmanuel Macron tried to set up a UK-France safe corridor but were prevented after the EU Commission insisted it would break the rules of the Schengen free travel area.

The Sun has also learned that the Foreign Office advice against all but essential international travel is expected to be scrapped within days now.

The FCO last night confirmed the advice is being reviewed.

And in a big hint that a change is imminent, a new note appeared beside the travel ban on its website in the last few days saying: “This advice is being kept under constant review”.

Announcing the start of quarantine last night, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “We all want to return to normal as quickly as possible. But this cannot be at the expense of lives.

“The science is clear that if we limit the risk of new cases being brought in from abroad, we can help stop a devastating second wave.”

Under the policy, all new arrivals - including returning Brits – must fill in a passenger locator form to give an address where they must remain for 14 days.

Health officials will carry out telephone checks and £1,000 fines will be slapped on anybody found breaking the quarantine.

But former Cabinet minister and Tory MP David Davis, who has branded the policy “mad”, warned that Britain is now at risk of being refused quarantine-free access to European countries

Mr Davis told The Sun: “As our rates of infection are higher than most countries in Europe now, they may turn round and tell us we’re no longer welcome.

'TRULY DISASTROUS'

“If that happens, this policy will prove to be a truly disastrous self-inflicted wound.”

Mr Davis added: “Quarantines for countries that still have high infection rates such as Brazil are still valid, but they should be the exceptions not the rule.”

Problems continued to pile up for the policy last night.

A third airline, EasyJet, has joined British Airways and Ryanair in suing the government to halt it.

The Channel Tunnel’s owner Getlink has also written to the PM to plea for his urgent intervention, as it branded the quarantine plan “fraught with problems”.

Passenger form templates and other red tape only arrived late on Friday, giving staff too little time to implement it before this morning.

Spain, Greece and Cyprus are all in the top five countries that Brits visit annually, with Turkey and the USA making the final two.

Turkey said last week that talks have begun with the UK government to set up a quarantine-free air bridge from July 15.

Spain, Greece and Portugal have also said they want British tourists to be able to return there by then.