EU Proposes Tripling Entry Fee for Foreigners

On Friday, the European Commission proposed increasing the fee for obtaining permission to enter the European Union within the framework of the future European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).

The Gaze reports on it, referring to a statement by the European Commission.

ETIAS is part of the EU's new IT architecture, which aims to strengthen its security by tightening controls on arrivals from outside the Union and simplifying administrative procedures.

The ETIAS Regulation, adopted back in 2018, established a fee of €7 for a three-year entry permit to the European Union.

‘Taking into account inflation since 2018 and additional operational costs related, for example, to new technical features integrated into the system, the fee will be adjusted to €20,’ the European Commission proposes.

They also emphasise that this amount is roughly equivalent to the cost of a similar fee in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The European Commission's proposal still has to be approved by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. If approved, the fee will be levied immediately upon the launch of the ETIAS system, which is expected at the end of 2026.

The European Union has been trying for a long time to reform the border control system by transferring it to electronic format and unifying it for all member states.

The future Entry-Exit System (EES) provides for the creation of an electronic database of people travelling to the EU in order to record their stay on its territory. It will be launched gradually by the end of 2025.

The EES system was supposed to start operating in the European Union on 10 November last year, but its implementation was postponed at the request of a number of member states.