Weeks after the EU's Entry/Exit System was supposed to be running everywhere, the picture for British travellers is patchy: some borders register biometrics by the book, others have quietly dropped them. Here is what EES means for UK passport holders in 2026 — and where it is still going wrong.
Lorry drivers from Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro and North Macedonia threatened to blockade Schengen frontiers over the EU's Entry/Exit System, casting a spotlight on how the digital border could shape summer queues.
ETIAS will be required no matter how you travel to Europe, including overland. Here is how authorisation checks will work for bus, train and car journeys, with examples for each.
Estonia is set to become the first EU country with the new Entry/Exit System (EES) running at every air, sea and land frontier from 12 October. Most other Schengen states, including Germany, will start with only partial coverage.
A new UK-EU agreement promises a 'fluid border' between Gibraltar and Spain, while keeping Gibraltar out of the Schengen area. Here is what it means for people crossing by land and arriving by air.
British visitors will not need an ETIAS travel permit for the EU and wider Schengen Area until April 2027 at the earliest. The delay follows a decision to roll out the Entry/Exit System gradually from October 2025 rather than all at once.
The EU is working towards an autumn 2025 launch for the Entry/Exit System (EES), but it will arrive in phases rather than all at once. Member States can start with a share of their border crossing points and scale up over six months, while ETIAS is not expected before late 2026.
The European Union has long promised that its "entry-exit system" (EES) is about to start, with the ETIAS travel permit due to follow. After a string of conflicting announcements from Brussels, here is a plain-English guide to what is planned and when.
MEPs have endorsed a substantially reformed Eurodac, the EU's central database for fingerprints and asylum data, adding facial images and a far richer set of personal details. The overhaul promises sharper identification, better statistics and closer links to ETIAS and the Entry/Exit System.
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.