European entry rules postponed again

British passport holders have been given a reprieve on needing to apply online to a "pre-travel authorization system" before they travel to the continent, after the launch of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, known as Etias, was put back from the end of this year until an unspecified time next year.

The Times said the program will require an estimated 1.4 billion people from 60 countries who now enjoy visa-free travel in the European Union, including the United Kingdom, to pay 7 euros ($7.40) for a three-year travel permit.

Residents of the 27 EU member states and other non-EU countries in the Schengen visa-free travel zone, including Norway and Switzerland, will continue to be allowed to cross borders.

This is the third time the system, similar to the Esta program allowing widespread visa-free entry to the United States, has been delayed, having first been due to take force at the end of last year, then May 2023, and then November 2023.

"This latest announcement of a further delay to the rollout of Etias is one small silver lining for British travelers planning to travel to the EU this year," The Times quoted Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the independent travel agents' body the Advantage Travel Partnership, as saying. "One less hurdle and cost to have to consider."

Travel regulation

The proposal for the system predates the UK's withdrawal from the EU, and The Guardian reported that when David Cameron was UK prime minister he enthusiastically backed the idea when it was first floated by the European Commission, three months before the 2016 Brexit referendum.

With delays caused by contractors, another proposed new travel regulation, the Entry-Exit System, or EES, will be introduced later than the originally intended date of May.

The EU's IT projects committee was told by Rene Vihalem, head of the EES management board, that a revised timetable should be available this month, with the aim of introduction before the end of the year.

Travelers will have their fingerprints and facial biometrics checked on entry and departure, with passport-reading machines replacing manual stamping of travel documents, which the European Commission's department for Migration and Home Affairs said was "time-consuming, (and) does not provide reliable data on border crossings and does not allow a systematic detection of overstayers".