Holidaymakers face €7 fee to enter EU zone

British holidaymakers to Europe will be forced to pay €7 to be allowed in, under plans from Brussels to screen travellers entering the Schengen area to prevent the need for visas. The European Travel Information and Authorisation System will work in a similar fashion to the US system which permits citizens from 39 countries a 90 day visa-free stay. Those granted entry through the ETIAS would be allowed to enter and leave the Schengen area multiple times over a three-year period.

BY the end of next year Britons travelling to Europe will be forced to pay €7 under proposals from Brussels.

The European Union is progressing with plans to pre-screen travellers entering the border-free Schengen area in order to prevent the need for visas.

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will work in a similar fashion to the US Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), which permits citizens from 39 countries a 90-day visa-free stay.

On Tuesday the regulations for the system were confirmed. The ETIAS plan was originally mooted in 2016, before the UK left the EU.

Once implemented it will cost visitors around £6.20 to undergo the checks. Those granted entry through the ETIAS would be allowed to enter and leave the Schengen area multiple times over a three-year period.

The scheme is expected to cover 60 countries, including the UK, Australia and the US.

Yesterday’s approval means the plan is on track to be implemented by the end of 2022.

“ETIAS will not change which nonEU countries are subject to a visa requirement and will also not introduce a new visa requirement for nationals of countries that are visa-exempt,” the proposal says.

“Visa-exempt non-eu nationals will only need a few minutes to fill in an online application, which in a vast majority of cases (expected to be over 95 per cent) will result in automatic approval.”

The UK’S last ever EU commissioner was a leading player in the original proposal for the ETIAS scheme.

The EU will use the information given by arrivals as part of security checks against its existing migration, police and security databases.

When the system was put forward in 2016, Sir Julian King said: “Terrorists and criminals don’t care much for national borders. The only way to defeat them is by working together effectively. ETIAS will help do that: by spotting problem individuals and stopping them from coming, we’ll enhance Europe’s internal security.”

The UK Government is also considering a similar visa waiver system for nonbritish nationals to enter on pre-screening.

The earliest expectation for the British version to come into force is 2024.

It will require applicants to submit answers to a series of security and health questions and could see Britons forced to declare their vaccination status.

According to the proposal from the European Commission, passengers will be required to reveal “whether they are subject to any disease with epidemic potential … or other infectious or contagious parasitic disease” as defined by the World Health Organisation, indicating that they will be required to prove Covid immunity upon arrival.

‘Visa-exempt non-eu nationals will only need a few minutes to fill in an online application’