The European Union has postponed the launch date of ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) to November 2023.
That is six additional months from the previously expected launch date in May 2023, which was announced by the European Commission in July 2022.
Now, the European Union does not expect ETIAS to become operational until November 2023, as specified in the official website of the Migration and Home Affairs department of the European Commission.
The European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, will be an automated IT system that will carry out checks against EU information systems for borders and security.
ETIAS will conduct checks on visa-exempt travelers who want to enter the Schengen area, and help authorities identify risks posed by them in the areas of security, irregular migration, and health (through the evaluation of high epidemic risks).
At the same time, ETIAS will facilitate travel and border crossing for most visitors to the Schengen area as they do not normally pose such risks, explained the European Commission.
The system will be designed to respect fundamental rights and follow data protection principles.
Its use will be mandatory for all visa-exempt non-EU nationals who need to travel to the Schengen area as they will be required to obtain a travel authorization through the ETIAS system prior to their trip. Border guards will ask for it along with other travel documents.
The European Commission expects ETIAS to issue these travel authorizations within minutes in most cases, and up to 30 days if further checks on the traveler are needed. The cost of the service will be around €7 and will require the completion of a form with essential data to start the verification.
All in all, the introduction of ETIAS is expected to allow a better management of borders in countries in the Schengen area, enhancing border checks and internal security, and reducing bureaucracy and delays for travelers, as well as the number of refusals of entry at border crossing points.
ETIAS is currently being developed by the European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security, and justice (eu-LISA).
However, the project has been through several postponements.
The idea of ETIAS was introduced in April 2016 in a EU Commission’s communication titled “Stronger and Smarter Information Systems for Borders and Security”. The European Parliament and the EU Council adopted the proposal on November 16th, 2016. The ETIAS Regulation 2018/1240 was adopted on September 12th, 2018 and became effective on October 9th, 2018.
The development of ETIAS started around that date. At that time, it was expected to be launched in 2021. Then, the launch date was put back to 2022, and later, to 2023 in two different occasions: first, it was rescheduled to May 2023, and now, to November 2023.
ETIAS is a measure that takes part in the Security Union and will help achieve border management objectives described in the European Agenda on Security and the European Agenda on Migration, including the prevention of cross-border crime and terrorism.
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