British travellers planning European trips in 2026 are facing the biggest shake up in border controls since Brexit, as the European Union accelerates the rollout of two interconnected systems: the Entry Exit System, already in operation, and the long delayed ETIAS electronic travel authorisation, which is now moving closer to launch. Together, they will change how UK passport holders enter and move around most of continental Europe, affecting everything from summer holidays and ski breaks to business trips and second home visits.
What Is Changing at Europe’s Borders in 2026
The EU’s new Entry Exit System, known as EES, began operating on 12 October 2025 and is being phased in over a six month transition period. It replaces the traditional stamping of passports with a fully digital register of when non EU nationals enter and leave the Schengen area and certain associated countries. Officials record the details stored in a passport, the time and place of crossing, and biometric data including fingerprints and a facial image. This data is then used to calculate how long a traveller has stayed inside the zone and whether they have exceeded the 90 days in any 180 day period allowed for short visits.
EES will apply to all non EU citizens entering the Schengen area’s external borders for short stays, including UK, US, Canadian and Australian nationals. It operates at airports, seaports and land borders, and is being progressively activated across border posts until early April 2026, when the system is due to be fully implemented. At that point, manual passport stamping will end for those covered by the scheme, and every eligible border crossing will be recorded electronically.
Running alongside EES will be the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, or ETIAS, which functions in a similar way to the United States ESTA. Once operational, ETIAS will require visa exempt travellers such as Britons to obtain a low cost online travel authorisation before boarding transport to most EU and Schengen destinations. Although ETIAS has been repeatedly postponed, the EU now expects to introduce it in the final quarter of 2026, with a grace period before it becomes mandatory, meaning UK travellers are unlikely to be refused boarding for not holding ETIAS until sometime in 2027.
How EES Works Today for UK Passport Holders
Since October 2025, more and more British visitors have found their first encounter with the new Entry Exit System at airports and ports across Europe. On arrival at an external Schengen border, a UK national must still present a passport with at least three months’ validity beyond their planned departure date. In addition, if the border crossing point is live on EES, they will be asked to have their photograph taken and four fingerprints scanned, alongside the usual passport check. This initial registration only happens once for each traveller, unless the passport is renewed.
The system then creates an electronic file with the traveller’s biometric data, passport details, and the exact date and place of entry. When the person later leaves the Schengen area, the exit is also recorded, allowing authorities to calculate the total time spent in the zone. On subsequent trips, the biometric check is typically quicker, as the traveller’s face and fingerprints are simply matched against the stored record, replacing the visual inspection and physical stamping of passports that has dominated border controls for decades.
For now, procedures can still vary between countries and individual airports because EES is in a transition period. Some border posts are using the system fully, others partially, and some continue to rely mostly on manual checks while they complete technical work and staff training. The EU has given member states up to 180 days from the October 2025 launch to finish their national deployments. That means British travellers in early 2026 may encounter traditional passport stamping at one border and biometric registration at another, even within the same trip.
Delays, Queue Fears and Industry Warnings for Summer 2026
The introduction of a continent wide biometric system has not been smooth. Travel industry bodies and airline groups have been warning since late 2025 that EES could cause serious congestion at some airports and land crossings, especially where infrastructure and staffing have not kept pace with the new requirements. Reports emerging from the first months of operation mention queues of two to three hours at certain Mediterranean holiday gateways, and even longer waits at some busy hubs during peak periods.
These concerns have sharpened in early 2026 as the April deadline for full EES implementation approaches. Airport councils, airline associations and UK travel trade groups have publicly urged Brussels and national governments to use all available flexibility built into the rules, including the ability to apply EES to only a portion of travellers at any one time or to temporarily suspend biometric checks when queues become unmanageable. Some border authorities have already chosen to pause EES processing during rush periods, reverting to passport stamping until crowds ease.
Industry officials warn that if every non EU passenger has to complete first time biometric registration in the height of the summer season, the time needed per traveller could multiply, pushing waiting times at bottleneck airports and land crossings well beyond normal levels. They argue that more staff, more automated kiosks, and better information campaigns for travellers are urgently needed, particularly at key entry points used by British holidaymakers, such as Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and popular ski and city break destinations.
ETIAS: When UK Travellers Will Actually Need It
While EES is already reshaping border checks, the second pillar of the new regime, ETIAS, is not yet in force. The EU has confirmed that ETIAS can only start operating once EES is fully up and running across all relevant external borders, since it relies on data from the entry exit system to perform many of its risk assessments and checks. With EES scheduled to be in full use from April 2026, the bloc has indicated that ETIAS will follow roughly six months later, in the last quarter of 2026.
However, officials and travel experts stress that ETIAS will not be immediately mandatory on the day the system goes live. Instead, the EU plans a transitional phase in which the new authorisation is available and encouraged, but travellers will not be denied boarding or refused entry solely for lacking it. Only after this grace period, expected to last at least six months, will airlines, ferry operators and rail companies be legally obliged to check that passengers from visa exempt countries such as the UK hold valid ETIAS approval before carrying them to the Schengen area.
In practical terms, this means that for most of 2026 and probably the early part of 2027, British holidaymakers will still be able to visit most of continental Europe without first applying for ETIAS, although they may be strongly advised to do so once the application portal opens. The authorisation is expected to cost around 20 euros for travellers between 18 and 70 and to remain valid for three years, or until the linked passport is close to expiry. Children and older travellers will likely need ETIAS as well, but with the fee waived.
What ETIAS Will Check and How It Affects UK Trips
ETIAS is not a visa in the traditional sense, but it will function as a pre travel clearance system. UK nationals will complete an online form or use an official app to provide personal details, travel plans and background information before departure. Their data will be run against a series of European and international security and migration databases, with the aim of identifying individuals who may pose a security threat, have a history of serious crime, or are likely to overstay their permitted visit.
In the majority of cases, applications are expected to be processed automatically within minutes, with a confirmation message sent by email or through the app. For a small proportion of travellers, the system may flag the application for manual review, requiring additional questions or, in rare cases, an interview at a consulate before a decision is made. Once granted, the ETIAS authorisation will be electronically linked to the passport and checked when the traveller checks in for a flight, train or ferry to Europe.
For UK residents, the key impact will be an extra step to complete several days before travel. Families heading to popular sun destinations such as Spain or Greece, city breakers flying to Italy or Germany, and second home owners driving to France or Portugal will all need to make sure every member of the party has an approved ETIAS by the time airlines and operators begin enforcing the requirement. Those who fail to apply in time may find themselves turned away at the check in desk.
Will the 90/180 Day Rule Change Under EES and ETIAS
Although the technology behind border controls is changing rapidly, the underlying rights of short stay visitors are not. UK citizens remain classed as visa exempt third country nationals, which means they can spend up to 90 days in any rolling 180 day period inside the Schengen area and participating states for tourism, family visits or business, without needing a traditional visa. Neither EES nor ETIAS alters this fundamental rule, but together they will make its enforcement much more precise.
Under the older system of manual stamping, both travellers and border officials sometimes struggled to track multiple entries and exits across different countries over several months. EES eliminates that ambiguity by automatically calculating the number of days a non EU visitor has spent inside the zone based on biometric records. When a UK traveller arrives at an external border, the system will show immediately whether they still have days available or are close to the limit, helping reduce disputes at the desk.
For long stay visitors, such as second home owners who make extended trips across seasons, this means bright line digital records instead of a sometimes confusing collection of passport stamps. It will be harder to argue over calculations or to rely on human error to obscure an overstay. Anyone who needs more than 90 days out of 180 will still have to explore national long stay visas or residence permits in the country they spend the most time in, just as under current rules.
Preparing for 2026: Practical Steps for UK Travellers
For British holidaymakers and frequent travellers, the most important changes in 2026 will be at the physical border. As EES becomes mandatory at all external Schengen crossing points from April, anyone who has not already completed their first registration should be prepared for longer processing times at immigration. Travel experts advise allowing extra time when connecting flights through European hubs, especially if transferring from a non Schengen to a Schengen leg, and to expect lines to be longer at popular airports during the first fully EES operated summer.
Passengers arriving by car, coach or Eurostar style rail services may also experience new procedures at juxtaposed border controls, where French officers check passports in the UK before boarding. Infrastructure at these sites has been upgraded to host biometric kiosks and additional booths, but critics warn that limited space makes it challenging to accommodate both large volumes of vehicles and the extra time needed for fingerprinting and photography. Motorists heading for ferries and the Channel Tunnel are being urged to travel with updated passports, arrive well ahead of departure times, and monitor operator advice as new processes bed in.
As ETIAS moves closer, UK travellers should also prepare to adapt habits around booking and paperwork. Once the system is live and airlines begin strongly recommending its use, applying for ETIAS at the same time as buying flights or package holidays is likely to become standard practice. Families planning peak school holiday trips would be wise to arrange travel authorisations weeks in advance, rather than leaving them to the last minute. Keeping passport details up to date with airlines, tour operators and loyalty programmes will also simplify the process of linking ETIAS approvals to bookings.
Data, Privacy and Security Concerns
Both EES and ETIAS involve large scale collection and storage of personal information, including sensitive biometric data. The EU insists that the systems comply with some of the world’s strictest privacy and data protection standards, pointing to robust oversight mechanisms and limited access rules for law enforcement agencies. Data will be stored for defined periods and used primarily for border management, migration control and security purposes, according to official documentation.
Nonetheless, the scale of the databases and the number of agencies accessing them have raised questions among civil liberties advocates and some travel groups. They argue that travellers may not fully understand how long their data will remain on file, how it might be shared between different authorities, or what rights they have to correct errors or challenge decisions based on automated checks. They are calling for clearer, passenger friendly explanations at airports, ferry terminals and on official websites, and for strong remedies where mistakes occur.
For British travellers, the new systems highlight how far the UK’s relationship with EU border controls has changed since leaving the bloc. Once able to use EU lanes and avoid most of the formalities facing third country nationals, UK passport holders are now among the principal users of the EU’s next generation border technologies. How smoothly the transition unfolds over the crucial 2026 travel season will help determine whether these reforms are remembered as a step towards smarter, faster crossings or as the source of long queues and holiday frustration.