Is EU planning to raise the expected €7 Etias travel authorisation fee?

From autumn 2026 non-EU nationality visitors to the Schengen area are expected to have to apply for authorisation to visit and pay a €7 fee – but is the EU “plotting” to increase the amount?

The claim was made in an article by The Telegraph recently, in turn based on one by news website Politico.

The Telegraph also quoted Conservative MP Mark Francois of the pro-Brexit European Reform Group, as saying the increase would “add insult to injury”, and that it would be further evidence that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s promised ‘reset’ with the EU was “illusory”.

We have reviewed what is known so far.

What is Etias?

Etias will be an online pre-approval to visit the Schengen area. It is set to start six months after full implementation of the linked European Entry/Exit System (EES), a digital borders system.

EES will involve non-EU/EES/Swiss nationals visiting the area having to be registered in a database, which will log their exits and entries to the Schengen area and track they respect the ‘90/180 days’ rule. 

This will affect all foreign visitors either coming under a 90/180 days visa waiver or a short-term Schengen visa (for nationalities that require this).

Etias will only concern visa-waiver nationals (which includes, for example, Britons, Americans, Canadians and Australians) and will require an application via a website, providing information about a visitor’s planned trip. 

Applicants will be required to wait for approval before they travel, so will be advised to complete the formality in good time before.

In regulations when detailing the Etias system in 2018, a fee of €7 per visitor was provided for (however, under-18s and over-70s are exempt). Once obtained, authorisation lasts three years or until the visitor’s passport expires if earlier.

Etias is comparable to the US’s Esta system, which costs $21 (€18) or the UK’s ETA, which cost £10 (€12) when it was launched for certain travellers from the Middle East in 2023 but rose to £16 (€19) in April this year when the scheme became obligatory for other non-UK nationals, including those from the EU. An ETA or Esta lasts for two years (or until the linked passport expires).

Etias will not come in until October 2026 at the earliest, as it is planned it will not start until at least six months after full implementation of EES. 

The latter is now not expected until April 2026 at the earliest due to plans to have a six-month period of ‘phasing in’, starting no earlier than October 2025. The precise start date of the ‘phasing in’ of EES has yet to be confirmed by the European Commission.

Could the price of Etias rise?

Politico claims that a rise in the fee is “emerging” as a “popular option” as the commission plans its budget for next year, according to the “EU diplomats” it spoke to. It said this was aimed at helping pay back debt the EU incurred financing its recovery from Covid.

A spokesman for the European Council told The Connexion: “A possible increase of the Etias fee would require a proposal from the commission and subsequent approval by European Parliament and member states’ representatives.”

A commission spokesperson told The Connexion: “The commission is assessing a possible adjustment of the fee. 

“This takes into account the rise in inflation since 2018 (the date at which the €7 level was set), the additional technical functionalities added to the system, as well as the need to ensure a level playing field with similar global travel authorisation programmes.

“The new visa fee will enter into force following the adoption of the proposal by the commission, and if there are no objections by council and parliament during their scrutiny period.

“In case of any changes, the commission will make sure to communicate well in advance to ensure that travellers are properly informed. All official information will be communicated via the official website, Travel Europe.” 

We note that the commission already put forward its draft budget for 2026 on June 4, but amendments are still possible. The budget has not yet been adopted by the council and parliament.

Could Britons be exempt due to the ‘reset’? 

Discussions on the ‘EU reset’ - an informal term for a hoped-for closer relationship - have so far have included proposals for the UK to rejoin the Erasmus university exchange programme, creation of new youth mobility visa for young Britons/EU citizens and a harmonisation of animal health rules which could see a return to the UK being able to issue pet passports. 

However, it is unlikely that it will lead to Britons being exempt from EES and the linked Etias, as only European Union citizens, members of EEA states and Swiss citizens are currently set to be exempt. In other words, exempt nations are all either EU members or accept EU free movement of citizens, which the UK has so far ruled out.

Also, if a deal was reached to exempt Britons from Etias, then logically EU citizens would reciprocally, have to be exempt from ETA, which has not so far been proposed.