Time has flown by, and as the year is rapidly coming to an end, several people are already finalising their holiday plans for December. For those of you who are planning to travel far and wide, you may want to double-check your Christmas travel plans, as Britons will now have to face fresh EU rules across 29 countries. It is always better to be safe than sorry, so find out today which countries will be implementing these new rules and how they could impact you and your travel plans.
Travelling in high numbers across the EU
People across the world are calling it ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’ Whether it is true or just simply the influence of Andy Williams’ song of the same name, we cannot confirm. What we can confirm is that at Christmas time and throughout December and January, travelling numbers significantly increase, especially for abroad travellers.
According to annual data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK residents made 86.2 million visits abroad in 2023, which is significantly higher than 2022’s 71 million visits. Furthermore, two Schengen countries are frequently at the top of the list of popular destinations for UK residents, which are Spain and France.
Now, for Britons planning to travel far and wide again in 2025, you must be aware of the new EU rules that you will face across 29 countries.
The new EU rules for UK passport holders
Final EU rules applicable to British travellers to Europe have been revealed. Starting in four days, the EU’s new Entry/Exit System will be implemented over the course of 180 days, or more specifically, until 9 April 2026. The system will implement a new rule of obtaining fingerprints and facial biometrics from UK passport holders and all other “third-country nationals.”
The Entry/Exit System will connect every perimeter in the Schengen area with a central database; however, the new system will not be applicable in Ireland (or in Cyprus, for the time being). According to a report by The Independent, the reasons behind the new EU rules are to:
- Address identity fraud
- Identify suspected criminals
- Keep watch on the 90-day stay limit in any of the 180 days applies to UK and other nationalities
This comes as no surprise, as the UK is also addressing the growing concern of fraud by having its drivers say goodbye to plastic in their wallets and hello to digital licenses. There are 29 countries on the list for the new system.
These 29 countries are on the list for the new system
According to the EU, the new system:
“will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time-consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings, and does not allow a systematic detection of over-stayers”.
The new Entry/Exit system will apply in the following 29 Schengen countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
If you are a UK citizen with an Irish or any other EU passport, you can skip the queues and avoid the Entry/Exit System. We wonder if this system will be implemented in the recently unveiled first-in-history continental subway?
For non-Irish or EU passport holders, the process will be slower for first-time Entry/Exit System travellers, as they must complete the full registration first, which includes fingerprint scanning, facial image capture, and passport data collection. Once this has been completed, subsequent trips will be much faster and simpler, as border guards will just verify stored biometrics. For more information regarding the EU’s new Entry/Exit System, please visit the official Travel to Europe website.
