European Parliament and Council Regulations 2018/1240 and 2018/1241 establishing the European Travel Information Authorisation System (ETIAS) enter into force today, 9 October 2018.
ETIAS is a system for granting authorisation to travel to the external borders of the Member States. The final decision on crossing the external border lies with the destination Member State. ETIAS will carry out pre-travel screening to assess the security and migration risks of travellers who benefit from visa-free access to the Schengen area, and thus allow Member States to deny authorisation to travellers considered to pose a security threat, or a risk in terms of irregular migration or public health. In order to cross an external Schengen border, visa-free travellers will need to have both a valid travel document and an ETIAS authorisation.
eu-LISA is responsible for the development and the technical management of the
ETIAS Information System, whilst Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, will manage the
ETIAS Central Unit.
The ETIAS Information System foresees, among others:
a centralised system to process the applications
a national uniform interface in each Member State that connects the central system and the national infrastructures
a secure communication infrastructure between the central system and the national uniform interfaces
a public website and a mobile app for mobile devices
an email service as well as a number of tools for applicants, such as an account service, a verification tool, and a tool to provide or withdraw consent for data retention beyond the general retention period.
ETIAS is due to become operational by the end of 2021. Full implementation is expected in the course of 2022.
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