The EU Entry/Exit system and EU travel authorisation system

The European Union (EU) is planning to introduce two separate but interconnected schemes that will affect non-EU citizens travelling to most EU countries.  These are:

• The EU Entry/Exit System (EES), which is an automated system for registering travellers from the UK and other non-EU countries each time they cross an EU external border.
• The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), a travel authorisation to enter the EU for citizens of non-EU countries that do not require a visa to enter the EU.

EU Entry/Exit System (EES)

The introduction of EES has been much delayed. It was previously scheduled for implementation in 2022, then May 2023, then late 2023, and then late 2024. Ahead of a planned launched date of 10 November 2024, the European Commission said in October 2024 that EES was being postponed again. It said that plans to roll out the EES in a phased manner would be worked out “in the coming weeks”.

EES will be an automated IT system for registering travellers from non-EU countries, including the UK, each time they cross a border into or out of the EU. Travellers will need to scan their passports or other travel documents at an automated self-service kiosk prior to crossing the border. This will replace the current manual stamping of passports for visitors to the Schengen area who are not nationals of EU or Schengen countries.

The system will register the person’s name, type of the travel document, biometric data (ie fingerprints and captured facial images) and the date and place of entry and exit.

It is likely that non-EU/Schengen citizens who do not require a visa to enter the EU will have their fingerprints and facial images taken the first time they cross a border into the EU, once the new system is in operation. This data will normally be erased from the system for data protection reasons three years after the last trip to a country using the EES system. Nationals of countries requiring a visa to enter the EU will not have their fingerprints taken by the EES system, as they will already have provided fingerprints as part of their visa application. Children under the age of 12 will be exempt from the requirement to give fingerprints.

According to the European Commission, the system will apply when entering 25 EU countries (all Member States apart from Cyprus and Ireland) and four non-EU countries (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein) that are part of the border-free Schengen area along with most EU Member States.

The system will apply to all nationals of countries that are not in the EU or Schengen when travelling to the 29 countries operating EES for short stays. Non-EU citizens who are legally resident or have long-stay visas to live in an EU Member State will be exempt from EES.

Impact on border checkpoints in the UK

The system will operate at the Port of Dover and Eurostar and Eurotunnel terminals in the UK. The UK Government has reciprocal agreements with France that allows the French authorities to operate border checks at these UK departure points into the EU.

Operators of services at these points have expressed concerns about the impact of EES, and its potential to increase delays at border checkpoints, with the logistics of EES registration for those travelling in vehicles seen as particularly challenging. Kiosks are being installed for passengers at both St Pancras station and the Eurotunnel terminal for the purpose of EES registration. This will mean passengers getting out of their cars to register at the Eurotunnel terminal. For passengers going through the Port of Dover, tablets will be provided and passed around for passengers inside cars, which means they will not have to get out. However, coach passengers at Dover will need to get off and register their details at kiosks.

Work is being undertaken in the EU on an online pre-registration process to minimise problems at the border, but the app for this was not expected to be ready for the planned launch in late 2024. UK parliamentary committees were among those calling for EES to be delayed until this was ready.

The new UK Government said in July 2024 that it was unhappy about the level of preparations for EES put in place by the previous administration, and that it would be working closely on implementation of EES with the French Government and operators at the juxtaposed borders and preparing communications to make UK travellers aware of the new system. It would also be asking the EU to take a more pragmatic approach to initial implementation of EES.

The postponement of the Autumn 2024 launch of EES came after several Member States said their systems were not ready, and following reports that the EU’s software for the system had not yet been tested at UK border points. The European Commission had previously said that it aimed to have the system in operation at all border crossings on the EES launch day. However, in postponing the launch again in October 2024, the Commission said that there would now be a “phased approach, step by step”.

EES and Schengen rules on short stays

EES data will be used for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Schengen area on entry and permitted length of stays. It will record overstayers, and refusals of entry.

Schengen rules restrict visitors who are not nationals of EU or Schengen countries to short stays of 90 days within a 180-day period. For longer stays, non-EU/non-Schengen nationals would have to apply for longer-stay visas in line with the national rules of the Member State they wish to stay in.

The UK and Ireland have a Common Travel Area, operating separately to Schengen. This has continued since Brexit. Ireland will not be operating either EES or the ETIAS system (see below). But as they are EU citizens, neither of these systems will apply to Irish passport-holders when travelling to EU or Schengen countries.

European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS)

EES will work in conjunction with the new ETIAS authorisation system, which is scheduled to become operational from mid-2025. ETIAS has also been delayed repeatedly alongside EES but is meant to come into operation a few months after EES.

ETIAS will apply to British and other non-EU/non Schengen country citizens travelling to all EU Member States , with the exception of Ireland. It will also apply for travel to the four non-EU Schengen countries.

The EU has a list of countries (which includes the UK) whose citizens do not need a visa to travel to the EU/Schengen area. The ETIAS travel authorisation is required for citizens of all countries that have such a visa-waiver to travel to the EU/Schengen area. Again, this does not apply to UK-Ireland travel as there is a Common Travel Area between the two.

Applications for an ETIAS authorisation will be made online or via a mobile app. Applicants will be checked against EU information systems for borders and security. According to the European Commission, a travel authorisation will be issued within minutes in most cases. However, some applicants may require further checks, which could delay authorisation for up to 30 days.

The ETIAS authorisation will last for three years (after which it will need to be renewed for future visits), or until the holder’s passport expires (whichever is sooner). It will cost €7 for people aged 18 to 70. However, it will be free for under-18s and over-70s.

UK nationals and their family members who have rights to reside in the EU under the Withdrawal Agreement (ie they were resident in an EU Member State at the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020) are exempt from ETIAS. They can travel to other EU/Schengen countries without an ETIAS authorisation as long as they hold documents proving their status.

Other non-EU nationals are also exempt if they are holders of resident permits for any country using ETIAS.

The ETIAS system is similar to the ESTA system for travel to the USA, where visitors pay a one-off fee (currently $21) for a travel authorisation which lasts for two years.

The UK Government is also introducing a similar system for non-UK travellers to the UK, the Electronic Travel Authorisation. It began implementing this at the end of 2023 for Gulf countries and it is expanding this to cover other countries in 2024 and 2025.

Further reading

Further details on the EES system can be found on the European Commission webpage on EES. See in particular the European Commission FAQs on EES and EES factsheet (PDF).

For further details on ETIAS see the European Commission webpage and FAQs on ETIAS.

A background briefing on EES and ETIAS and preparations being undertaken by operators at UK borders is provided as an appendix to a letter from the Chair of the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee to the Minister of State for Legal Migration and the Border (PDF) on 20 May 2024. This also includes a list of conclusions and recommendations.

Further information on issues relating to travel to the EU, short-stays and living and working in the EU can be found in the Commons Library briefing paper, After Brexit: Visiting, working, and living in the EU.

For further details on the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation system, see Home Office, Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) factsheet – September 2024. See also House of Commons Library, Electronic travel authorisations: what’s the ETA?, 24 April 2023