The European Travel Information and Authorisation System will not begin until 2026, the Commission confirmed, the latest in a series of slips for a scheme first slated for 2021. For visa-exempt visitors, nothing changes today, entry rules hold as they are until the system goes live.
When it does, the requirement is modest: a €7 online authorisation valid for three years, tied to a passport, covering short stays across 30 countries. The delay matters less for any single trip than for the planning assumptions of carriers and tour operators, who have now rebuilt their timelines twice.
WorldTravelBrief will track the live start date against the official register, not the announcements.