The EU's new Entry/Exit System has been pushed back again, with a fresh launch date pencilled in for November 2024. To avoid chaos at busy crossings, officials have also softened the biometric requirement with a 'relief valve' that could excuse many travellers on first entry.
Ryanair and other travel-industry voices have warned that the EU's plan to launch its Entry/Exit System at every frontier on a single day is risky and untested. Brussels insists there will be no soft launch when the biometric border system arrives in autumn 2024.
Spain's tourism industry warned that the European Union's planned ETIAS authorisation could put off millions of British holidaymakers. Industry leaders called the charge a "threat" to competitiveness as the country counted on its biggest visitor market.
Three years after the UK formally left the European Union, the promises made about effortless travel look very different in practice. From passport queues to the 90/180-day limit, here is how trips to Europe have changed for British travellers.
On 5 September 2018 the Council of the EU adopted the regulation creating ETIAS, a pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors to the Schengen area. The text laid out how the system would work and when it should go live.