Brexit Strikes Again: New EU Travel Restrictions

Global Pulse
Sep 15
2 min read

Well, it’s that time again, where UK citizens face new EU travel restrictions in light of Brexit. In this short article, I will dissect the new restrictions and implementations so that you have a clear picture of what they actually mean and what your future holiday may look like.

What is the new scheme?

The new EU scheme, named the Entry Exit System (EES), is an automated IT system for registering non-EU travellers each time they enter or exit an EU country.

It requires non-EU citizens to have their fingerprints and photos taken before they enter the Schengen area, the idea behind this is that it will secure their borders and gradually replace the stamping of passports on arrival.

However, one key thing to note, is that this only applies to countries in the Schengen area. Thus, it will not apply to Ireland and Cyprus. This is because the UK and Ireland are both in the Common Travel Area (CTA), which is a travel agreement between the two countries and other crown dependencies.

The scheme will be rolled out on 12th October 2025, after many delays. There will be no additional cost to accommodate these new regulations and under-12s will be exempt from the fingerprinting.

The full scheme will not be fully implemented across all EU member states until 10th April 2026 - so it’ll take around 6 months to fully implement.

What does this mean?

For most UK tourists, their data will only be stored for 3 years and 1 day before being deleted. However, those who overstay a 90 day visa will have their data stored for 5 years.

The fingerprinting will take place on arrival at the EU airport, but if you’re travelling by train or ferry, it’ll be completed in the UK.

This is expected to bring lengthy delays due to the fingerprinting and photography taking several minutes to complete.

Political Fallout

The Prime Minister of the UK, Keir Starmer, in May of 2025 announced his ‘EU Reset Plan’ in which it said that UK travellers would be able to use EU e-gates in the near future. This was welcomed by the public, due to the fact that it would reduce delays at the airport.

However, this new EU scheme appears to undermine his plan. This is because, despite getting through the gates at the airport quicker, UK travellers will now be subject to fingerprinting and photography upon arrival in the EU. This appears to be a set back for the new UK government in their bid to re-align with the EU, while also showing that the only way to fully re-align with the EU, is by re-joining it.