As a counterpart and follow on to a previous ABTOT Article (see EES and ETIAS) Matt Gatenby, Senior Partner at law firm Travlaw, updates on exactly what is happening with the new rules affecting travel to and from the European Union (“EU”) for UK travellers.
Background
As we talked about in the previous article, UK citizens have historically not required visas or travel authorisation when travelling into the European Union (EU). However, there has been a (now drawn out …) plan from the EU to make significant changes which will impact travellers from the United Kingdom that will change that. A quick footnote here to again mention that when we talk about the “EU” it is actually a bit more complex as we need to factor in the differences between the EU, the European Economic Area (“EEA”), the Schengen Zone and how the “common travel area” that is in place between the UK and Republic of Ireland also all factor in. For today however, we will just say “EU”, for the sake of ease!
In very simple terms, the EU is implementing two systems.
- ETIAS – The European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) will be a new system to pre-authorise and monitor non-EU nationals from visa-exempt countries electronically when entering and exiting the EU. ETIAS is not a visa, it would be more precise to refer to ETIAS as a visa-waiver programme – not dissimilar from the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) that many will be familiar with for travel to the United States.
- EES – The European Union Entry/Exit System (EES) is a new system for registering non-EU nationals when they enter and exit the Schengen Zone (the European countries which have removed internal border checks). All non-EU nationals will need to have their photograph and fingerprints taken, and passport scanned, on every entry and exit.
It would not be unreasonable to think of ETIAS as the pre-authorisation for travel to the EU, and EES as the physical checks on entry and exit. The changes are intended to improve border control, and internal security in the EU, as well as identifying those exceeding their rights to stay within the EU.
Shouldn’t EES & ETIAS Have Started By Now?
Yes! Both were originally due to start in 2022, and have been delayed several times. As of the time of writing, the official EU website states that the EES is due to go live in October 2025, and ETIAS in the last quarter of 2026. It has long been expected that EES would go live first as even though the EES system requires entirely new e-gate desks the concept is similar enough to the standard e-gates that have been used at many airports for some time now. It does make rational sense to have that launched and bedded in before ETIAS goes live.
Practicalities of EES & ETIAS
EES kiosks will be present at every entry point (airports, ports, train terminals) with links from outside the EU. Each passenger will have to enter a kiosk, to have their photograph and fingerprints (known as biometric data) taken, along with other personal information such as full name, date of birth, which is associated with the travellers passport. It is also worth noting if a traveller refuses to provide biometric data upon arrival, they will be denied entry into the territory of European countries using EES. It is estimated that an individual’s first use of an EES kiosk should take around 75 seconds. Subsequent uses of the EES kiosk should be quicker, as the biometric data will only need to be verified against the personal passport information. This digital record will be valid for 3 years.
From a UK point of view, outside of airports there will be 3 ‘international stations’, at the Port of Dover, Le Shuttle terminal (previously known as Eurotunnel) in Folkestone, and the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station. These will allow the EES formalities to be completed before the passenger embarks on their train or ferry crossing to the Continent. There is no fee/cost from a traveller perspective for EES.
When ETIAS gets closer to launch, applications will become available and will be entirely online and are expected to take around 10 minutes to complete. Most ETIAS applicants will be notified either instantly or within a few hours of their approved authorisation, but guidance states it may take up to 3 days. The fee for making an ETIAS remains at €7.00 per person as of the time of writing. The fee, however, will not be payable for travellers under 18 or over 70 years of age, although they still require an ETIAS.
The Importance for Tour Operators and Travel Organisers
While all the responsibility for complying with EES and ETIAS will be on the traveller themselves, tour operators and travel organisers will need to be pro-active and plan ahead in order to avoid disruption. For instance:
- It makes sense to check Terms & Conditions of travel (often referred to as Booking Conditions or Trading Charter) to ensure that adequate reference is made to require travellers to have what they need in place.
- Having separate FAQ advice pointing travellers to the official EES & ETIAS sources is also advisable – prevention is better than cure, and even though it is a travellers responsibility to obtain what they need prior to travel, we all have the same aim of avoiding any issues.
- Despite the longer lead in time there are concerns that the extra time that EES check will take (particularly at ferry ports) could lead to long queues and significant delays although the delay may have been a benefit here with both the locations and travellers having more time to prepare. As such, in the early days of Go Live on both systems it may be beneficial to be carefully monitoring what is going on and being ready to react if needed.
- Similarly, from a practical planning point of view, it is sensible to factor in far more time than may currently be needed for border crossings as far as itineraries go, connections and so on.
And Note To Be Outdone – The UK’s ETA
The UK also has what is basically its own version of ETIAS, with the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which is required for non-UK nationals to travel to the UK. This has actually been in place for a few years for many residents of non EU countries such as the Australia, Canada and the USA – however, from 2nd April 2025 the scheme also applied to EU nationals, but again not to travellers that are part of the UK/Republic of Ireland Common Travel Area.
Like the EU ETIAS scheme, the powers-that-be go to great lengths to make it clear that this is not a visa system – rather a permission system for those that need it. From a Tour Operator and Organiser point of view everything we say above is basically relevant here, so it is worth being aware of the up to date requirements and information so that both you and your customers can be aware – see here. Notably the ETA scheme is more expensive (at £16.00 per person) but the application for UK based Tour Operators and Organiser is probably less so, unless you regularly deal with in-bound tourists.
Commentary/Summary
There have been a number of false starts for EES and ETIAS, but as mentioned above if anything that should at least have the benefit of making the process more likely to get off to a good start when they do launch. The UK has shown that a system like ETIAS can be implemented without any notable issues (as the US ESTA did before it) – the reported problems with travel still tend to be around passport validity, which is still a requirement that needs to be considered by travellers. As such, there is no reason to think that ETIAS cannot also be a success, and similarly there is no reason a transition to EES cannot be seamless, come the day. However, the best advice for travel businesses and travellers remains to keep a watching brief until all this is done and dusted.
To discuss this or any other related issues please feel free to contact any of the Travlaw team at Advice@Travlaw.co.uk or 01132 580033.