We Brits are used to booking last minute trips over to Europe especially now that budget airlines are flogging seats for as little as £13.99. Plus, we can always catch the Eurostar to France and Brussels or even just take the car and drive over to the mainland.
However, holidaymakers from the UK will need to follow new rules when entering European Union countries from next year. The European Union's Entry/Exit Scheme (EES) will replace the stamping of passports from October 2024.
The new system will begin just as most Brits are getting used to having to head to passport control each holiday – when previously we could use electronic passport gates. Now, you’ll have to submit your bio-data to enter the EU including fingerprints and facial biometrics.
READ MORE: World's 'most dangerous countries' for 2024 ranked as tourists urged to stay away
READ MORE: How to get a refund when your flights are delayed or cancelled – your rights
The scheme was set to begin in 2023, but was delayed for an array of reasons including French officials wanting to wait until after the Olympics takes place in Paris (you can get a ticket Paris to watch on the Eurostar for £49). Now, it will be introduced on October 6 2024 – and all Brits will have to comply with the new rules or face not being allowed to continue on to their destination.
Your name, biometric data – that’s fingerprints and facial scanning – and where you are entering and exiting the EU from will all be recorded in the system. Member nations will need to confirm by the end of August whether they are ready for the official launch it is reported. If not there may be further delays.
While the new entry and exit system is set to begin next year Brits will not yet have to worry about paying extra to enter the EU. The official ETIAS – European Travel Information and Authorisation System – has been delayed once again. The visa waiver system will require Brits to pay a fee of €7 (£6.06) to enter the EU and you will have to file for the pass before you travel. It will work in a similar manner to the ESTA system in the United States which is far more expensive.
However, while the ETIAS system was supposed to begin in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 it has now been scheduled to begin in 2025. The official EU website states: "ETIAS will be a largely automated IT system created to identify security, irregular migration or high epidemic risks posed by visa-exempt visitors travelling to the Schengen States, whilst at the same time facilitate crossing borders for the vast majority of travellers who do not pose such risks.
"Non-EU nationals who do not need a visa to travel to the Schengen area will have to apply for a travel authorisation through the ETIAS system prior to their trip. The information gathered via ETIAS will allow, in full respect of fundamental rights and data protection principles, for advance verification of potential security, irregular migration of high epidemic risks."
Source: Read Full Article