EU proposes US-style travel rules for foreigners

The EU, seeking ways to better protect its external borders, proposed a system that would require foreigners entering the bloc without a visa to seek pre-authorization before traveling. The system, modelled on US practice, would take years to set up, like many policies adopted after a series of recently terror attacks in France, Belgium and Germany. The EC said that by setting up the European Travel and Information Authorization System (ETIAS), the bloc would be better placed to keep at bay terror suspects, criminals and people with contagious diseases. The system would apply to people from countries whose citizens are exempt from visa-entry requirements, including in the US, Asia, the Balkans, Middle East and Latin America. It would also apply to British citizens, once the UK leaves the EU, assuming a visa-exemption arrangement has been agreed. The system isn't expected to become operational before 2020, pending approval by national governments and the European Parliament and after linking up several security databases across the continent. “It is technically terribly complicated,” EC VP Frans Timmermans said. The “absolute highest level of data protection” needed to be ensured, as the system would gather data on tens of millions of travellers every year, Timmermans said. Under the proposal, people from the more than 50 countries who don’t need a visa to come to Europe would register online with their passport data, pay a E5 fee and receive the ETIAS pre-authorization for as long as their passport is valid. The commission estimates that only up to 5% of all travellers would be rejected for reasons ranging from security risks to health hazards.<br/>