Revised Timeline Sets EES for October 2025 and ETIAS for Late 2026

The European Union has clarified when its two new border systems will arrive. On 5 March 2025, EU home affairs ministers endorsed a revised timeline for the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). Under the plan, EES becomes operational first, in October 2025, and ETIAS is expected to follow in the last quarter of 2026.

The sequencing matters. Rather than launching both systems at once, the EU is staggering them so that border authorities, carriers and travellers can adapt to one change before the next takes effect.

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A revised timeline endorsed by EU ministers

The decision to confirm a phased schedule was taken at the Justice and Home Affairs Council, where ministers agreed that EES would be introduced before ETIAS. EES is the system that records the entries and exits of non-EU travellers at the external Schengen border, replacing manual passport stamps with a digital record and biometric data.

ETIAS is a separate requirement that applies before travel rather than at the border. It is the new travel authorisation for nationals of the roughly 59 visa-exempt countries and territories who currently enter the Schengen area without a visa. Once live, it will be mandatory to enter around 30 European countries for short stays of up to 90 days within any 180-day period.

What changes for travellers

For visa-exempt travellers, the practical message is that EES comes first and ETIAS later. Similar pre-travel requirements already exist elsewhere: the United States operates ESTA, Canada has its eTA, and the United Kingdom has introduced its own Electronic Travel Authorisation. ETIAS follows the same logic for travel into Europe.

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The exact ETIAS launch date will be announced later by the European Commission and published officially once confirmed. Travellers should therefore plan around the broad window of late 2026 rather than a fixed day, and watch for the official announcement closer to the time.

Transitional and grace periods to follow

The EU has signalled that the start of ETIAS will be followed by transitional and grace periods lasting at least 12 months. During this introductory phase, the requirement is eased in so that travellers who are not yet aware of it are not turned away immediately, giving the system time to bed in.

For a plain-language summary of how these systems fit together, see our ETIAS overview. Keeping an eye on the official timeline now is the simplest way to avoid surprises when the requirements take effect.