London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

UK backed plan to charge non-EU travellers to enter Europe

UK backed plan to charge non-EU travellers to enter Europe

Exclusive: David Cameron’s government said to have been one of ‘biggest supporters’ of idea in 2016
The British government was one of the “biggest supporters” of EU plans to require non-EU nationals to obtain authorisation and pay a fee to enter the bloc’s passport-free travel zone, the Guardian has learned.

David Cameron’s government backed the idea when it was floated by the European Commission in April 2016, three months before the EU referendum, when few foresaw the €7 (£5.95) fee would one day hit British travellers.

Brexit supporters reacted with fury this week when the commission said plans for a European travel information and authorisation system (Etias) were on track to come into force for travellers in late 2022.

Despite claims of “Brexit punishment”, the idea, which is intended to increase border security, long predates Britain’s EU divorce and applies to citizens from about 60 countries.

Modelled on the US Esta scheme, non-EU citizens who do not require a visa will have to fill out a form and pay €7 before entering Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone. In 95% of cases approval will be given within minutes. If travel is allowed, the €7 fee – which applies to adults between 18 and 70 years, – covers multiple visits over three years.

The former Labour MEP Claude Moraes said the government had been keen on the idea. “The UK government was one of its biggest supporters, obviously prior to the referendum, and [Etias] was seen as part of the digital securitisation of borders that the UK wanted to lead on in the EU.”

Moraes chaired the European parliament’s home affairs committee, which was responsible for negotiating the Etias regulation with EU interior ministers.

The then home secretary, Theresa May, was understood to have supported the concept although she never expected to join, because the UK was outside the Schengen zone. If the UK had remained an EU member state, British nationals would be exempt from the form filling and charge – a special status that non-Schengen Ireland has today.

The UK’s former ambassador to the EU Sir Ivan Rogers said the UK would have been in favour, but added he did not have a detailed recollection. “As it was a Schengen-building measure, we would not have joined it. That applied to several Schengen-building propositions of which we said we were in favour, on good [Home Office] securocrat grounds.”

The former Europe minister David Lidington said: “I don’t remember exactly what our position was then on Etias – we were very much focused on the referendum campaign by that time. Having said that, our general approach was to encourage and support EU measures to strengthen aviation security in order to mitigate the risk of successful terrorist attacks.”

When May was at the Home Office, the UK was at the forefront of pushing the EU to adopt a law requiring law enforcement authorities to collect data on aeroplane passengers. The passenger name records (PNR) directive was co-written by the British Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope, spawning data-sharing deals with Australia and the US.

In April 2016 May said remaining in the EU “means we will be more secure from crime and terrorism”, as she praised the European arrest warrant and PNR law.

The government saw the Etias scheme as part of a security package that included PNR and EU databases, Moraes recalled. “That’s how they saw Etias as well, as modernisation of borders. Interoperability was the key dividend of Etias in the view of [the government] – that it would work with other EU-wide databases.”

When a traveller completes the Etias form, their data will be automatically cross-checked with other EU databases, including the Schengen information system, Europol, and the Eurodac fingerprint data store for asylum seekers.

The idea for a European travel authorisation system was aired at least as early as 2011 and gained momentum after terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015 and Brussels in 2016.

Despite scratchy relations between Cameron and the rest of the EU, his government voted in favour of most EU laws.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×