The launch of the European authorization system for foreign citizens, who will have to pay 7 euros, was planned for 2021.
The European Union has postponed the date of introduction of the ETIAS system, which provides for preliminary online authorization and payment for tourists visiting EU countries, to 2024. The service was supposed to start operating in November 2023, but the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs postponed this date for a year.
ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) is modeled after the American ESTA scheme. The system provides that all potential visitors to EU countries outside the European Union go through online registration in advance, paying 7 euros for a stay of up to three years.
At the same time, the implementation of another EU system, EES (Entry/Exit System), which provides for stricter biometric checks at the border for travelers, has also been postponed to the end of 2023.
Such a step is due to the fact that the EU countries are not yet ready to launch services. European officials also expressed serious concerns about the consequences of increased checks at the border between the UK and France, where long queues are already observed at peak hours.
Recall that both systems were supposed to be introduced in 2021, but were initially delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was also reported that in the fall of 2022, a ban on the entry of Russian citizens into the EU through the Baltic countries and Poland came into force.
