Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at Abta, encourages firms to be prepared well in advance for the launch of the scheme
You’d be forgiven for thinking that all had gone quiet on the implementation of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), whose launch late last year was postponed, but the reality is quite different.
In fact, at the end of last month we learnt that the European Commission is working towards implementing EES in Autumn 2025, and last week, the European Council established a general approach to how it will be implemented.
The November 2024 launch was delayed because not all countries were ready or able to go live. This led to the European Commission rethinking its approach, with a proposal for a phased implementation, as opposed to an all-at-once switch on.
Last week the EU’s Member States agreed their approach, which would mean Member States will be able to implement EES at their own pace, providing they have at least 10% of external border crossing points live at the start of the rollout, expanding to 50% within three months. Then 100% by six months of the launch date.
But this will only be finalised once the legislation currently in Parliament is adopted through the EU’s legislative process, which involves the three players – The Council (Member States), Commission and Parliament.
Member States are also expected to have some flexibility to allow for any adjustments they need to make or any exceptional circumstances, like excessive waiting times. This means they could suspend operations either fully or partially; if partially, biometric data registration would be paused for a fixed period.
It will be a few months before we know for sure if autumn is going to be the date (and possibly a bit longer in terms of exactly when), but the legislation is expected to pass by June.
And what about the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias)? Well, it’s a little harder to assess when people may need to have an Etias to go to the EU.
The original plan was Etias would launch six months after EES, and that does still appear to be the Commission’s thinking, but the Council’s latest press statements alluded to going live in Q4 2026. As such, we do know you will not need an Etias to travel this year, and it’s unlikely for most of next year too.
It is hard to gauge exactly when it may well be introduced, as EES needs to be fully operational for Etias to work and there is also a phasing-in period during which people will be permitted to travel without an Etias.
So, what can travel businesses do in the meantime to prepare? It’s important to make sure you understand what EES will mean for your business and your customers. You’ll also need to consider how you communicate EES to customers, given not all places will go live at the same time.
Abta’s online advice for customers has been updated to reflect the Autumn target date for EES, and we continue to keep the information available to members, via the Abta memberzone, up to date with the latest developments.
We’re continuing to monitor the developments in the EU and engage with our contacts in the authorities responsible for delivering the schemes, raising any queries or concerns we may have. Similarly, we’re in contact with the UK government departments who are working on EES and Etias.
There is still a way to go before EES and Etias launch, and we’re here to support members to help them get ready.