EES Start Date Set for Autumn 2025 as Europe Confirmed a Phased Border Rollout

The EU finally attached a fixed opening date to EES

The report said the Entry/Exit System would begin for some UK travellers on 12 October 2025, marking the shift from repeated delay to a live border timetable. Rather than arriving everywhere at once, the scheme was set to begin in phases across external frontiers, reflecting the scale and operational difficulty of the rollout.

Biometrics and staggered implementation were central to the plan

British passport holders were told they would need fingerprints and facial biometrics under the new system, while children under 12 would not have to provide fingerprints. The article said the phased introduction would run until 9 April 2026, with the EES then fully operational at all external border crossings from 10 April 2026.

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ETIAS remained the later step and the fee had risen

Alongside the EES timing, the report said ETIAS was expected to begin between October and December 2026 rather than alongside the first EES launch. It also noted that the ETIAS charge was set to rise from 7 euros to 20 euros, underlining that the next stage of Europe's new travel architecture would arrive later and at a higher cost than earlier plans suggested.