The full rollout of the EU’s new digital digital entry/exit system — EES for short — has been pushed back to September to avoid delays over what will be an exceptionally busy summer for travel.
The €20 ETIAS travel authorisation is linked to the EES system and will follow it by six months. It is now expected to become mandatory around April 2027.
Very grateful for your info @TheEnglishFlaneur. Are you able to provide your source link. Cheers
It was reported in an article in The Times on 4th February, but I think it’s behind a pay wall.
Here’s something dated yesterday https://www.businesstraveller.com/news/eu-allows-member-states-to-delay-ees-rollout-amid-fears-of-summer-travel-chaos/
I think countries that have a lot of summer visitors will extend implementation for as long as possible e.g. France, Spain, Italy, Greece.
Always best for UK citizens to check on the Government’s website. Interestingly the EU Entry/Exit system page hasn’t been updated since 4 September 2025!
My guess is that it will become harder for people to travel outside their country to housesit, even if they don’t mention that at the border. Also owners may well become reluctant to take on housesitters from outside their country.
Not sure I agree although I believe the new EES system will flag up long stays without leaving the schengen zone which may be an issue for those sitters hoping to circumvent the 90 days per 180 day rule.
We did the Schengen shuffle last year 3 times. The third time leaving Berlin with immigration officer when she flicked through my passport she couldn’t see my most recent entry and asked when did I enter. Ha, I couldn’t remember date but at least I knew where and said look for the Finland one. I could see the relief on her face when she saw I was legal.
@richten1, we agree with your guesses on both points 
This is the article I saw in The Guardian a few days ago:
Not surprised at all by the postponement, considering how badly it worked in trial phase. Luckily for me, I went through it when I wasn’t in a hurry, in Italy.
I would quite like to get it done. Can you just ask? I am off to Italy soon, just returning for a couple of months in France and Spain.
When I went through in Italy during trial phase, they randomly chose people. So now I’m in the system and they placed a sticker on the back of my passport.
Switzerland is already implementing Schengen ESS and we experienced long queues on both arrival and departure at Geneva airport in January.
On arrival, the queue for border entry for non-EU passport holders exceeded one hour. This should be taken into account when booking train tickets in advance, as cheaper advance fares are valid only on a specific, timed service.
Despite the long queues it was only random passengers being selected to be enrolled ( finger prints etc ) My husband was selected but not me .
Thanks for that very helpful information @Silversitters, I will be arriving in Geneva soon and wasn’t expecting this.
In a recent speach the president of schengen zone countries has stated it has been agreed countries within Schengen can pause the roll out of ESS for an intial 60 days with a further 30 days possible.
There has been nothing else stated so far.
Suggestions Spain may pause the ESS during the busy summer months especially after a recent tragic death of a person waiting in line for 4 and a half hours at Arrecife airport passport control, Lanzarote due to a number of large planes landing within minutes. No food, water or facilities are available while waiting.
Airlines and airports are urging the EU to delay the full rollout of the Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES) due to fears of 4-hour summer queues, with Aerospace Global News reporting that current biometric system trials are causing severe delays. Industry groups, including ACI EUROPE, are calling for flexibility through October 2026 to prevent massive travel disruption, as ongoing teething problems, such as chronic border understaffing and technical issues, are already causing long,.
[image]Aerospace Global News +2
Key EES Issues Identified by Airlines & Airports:
This seems crazy and so needless. Some officials really have no common sense at all.
Experience of getting an ETA in order to travel to the UK.
TBH i dont really follow what is going on. But here is my experience with being an EU member and traveling by train to UK and having the necessarily “paperwork”.
Two weeks before leaving EU I looked at the UK government page about what kind of permit I need. It told me to get the ETA, via downloading an app.
The process took about 10 minutes. The app complained about every photo I gave to it, but eventually accepted: I just needed to keep retaking the photos. It asked for a photo of my passport, and of my face. It also scanned my passport via the phone reading the chip (what kind of ski-fi is this!) and made a 3D model of my face. It asked if I am working, and if I am a political risk (said no to both). I paid the 20 euros they asked.
Two minutes after completing the app process, I got an email headed “ETA application approved”. Me being not too good with English though it was an email that I had successfully fulfilled the application process, and they would send me my “results” in couple of days. Nope, that was my ETA. Quick and easy.
When boarding the Eurostar train, the person reading our train tickets asked everyone if they have the ETA, on order to make sure that we wont get into trouble with the border controls. Some people did not have it. We were never asked to show it, apparently it is digitally tied to our passports. The border personnel did ask what we would do in the UK (“travel around with our interrail tickets) and where we would go (“first to Liverpool but then we see where we like”). To get to the Eurostar tunnel under the sea is like airport thing: bags will be scanned etc. It is slow, but not as slow as airports (because there is always only the people entering the next train getting trough, not people from x-amount of flights mixed together). ETA did not affect the boarding speed.
I still dont know if I really needed the ETA. Of course the ESS is a different thing. But at least my experience with ETA was: easy whilst annoying. Oh how much I love EU: free roam.
Thanks for adding your experience, In my experience most of the ETA or similar are processed very quickly, so it’s good to read the the UK issued yours without any undue delay.
How I miss the four freedoms that being a member of the EU bestowed upon us, movement, capital, goods and to provide services/establish businesses.