Will 2025 bring a big change for travelers in the EU?

2024-11-20 08:05:00, Aktualitet CNA

Will 2025 bring a big change for travelers in the EU?

Illustrative photo

Last weekend, the new European Union Entry/Exit System (EES) could be unveiled.

This new system means that when a non-EU citizen enters any of the 29 countries of the free movement zone, Schengen, they must register their full name and nationality, be fingerprinted and have their photograph taken - most likely in a self-service booth.

The system was approved by the EU at the end of 2017 and will remove the manual stamping of non-EU passports, replacing the old system with a large electronic database.

According to the European Commission, the new system will help prevent irregular migration, help third-country nationals to travel more easily, identify attempts to overstay or abscond. of identity.

However, it was not made operational - neither on 10 November as planned, nor on the backup date of 17 November.

But, to be more precise, the dates were never firmly established.

It was said that this could happen sometime in the last quarter of this year, and it was not the first time that it was postponed.

Even in 2022 and 2023, the new system was not ready.

And, the question arises: why these constant delays?

One answer is that this is a massive information technology enterprise and, on this scale, it has not been tested before.

When EU interior ministers agreed in October that a November rollout is not possible, it was France, Germany and the Netherlands - three member states with multiple entry points - who blocked it.

The German Interior Ministry said at the time that the central computer system that would support the new system, which is overseen by the EU agency eu-LISA, lacks "the necessary stability and functionality".

An EU diplomat with knowledge of the matter was even harsher, telling Radio Free Europe that the entire system was "weak" and had not been tested before the official launch.

While EU agency eu-LISA said all EU member states are technically ready, it fears the new system will create chaos in the continent's main hubs, hitting business and tourism massively. border.

One of the problems is that the EU wanted to launch the system everywhere at the same time. But in Brussels, there is now talk of a phased approach, which means that the regulations already approved must be changed.

This can be done if there is political will, which appears to be there, but it is up to the European Commission to define exactly what the phased approach means.

Meanwhile, many border centers and points will continue to prepare for the system's eventual launch in 2025, adding more automatic barriers and self-service booths, as well as training staff and border guards.

Once this system is operational, citizens outside the EU will have another thing waiting for them.

The plan is to proceed with the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) about six months later.

This will cover all visa-exempt travelers to the EU, including US and British citizens, but also Ukrainians, Georgians and Moldovans, as well as citizens of Western Balkan countries outside the EU.

It is worth noting that obtaining approval from ETIAS is not a visa and does not guarantee entry.

The authorization, valid for three years, will cost 7 euros and will have to be completed by all persons aged 18 to 70.

Exceptions will be made by individuals with visas and residence permits, refugees, holders of diplomatic passports and passengers in transit at airports.

ETIAS was agreed by the EU in 2018 and, like the EES, it is part of efforts to make the Schengen area stronger and more controlled.

With immigration again at the top of the political agenda across the bloc, there is likely to be a strong push from some member states, as well as the European Commission itself, to have both systems operational by 2025./REL