Brits face paying for a visa waiver to travel to the EU after Brexit
Brits travelling to the EU after Brexit face a €7 (£6.30) fee to holiday abroad without a visa, it is reported.
The charge will come in in 2021, when Britain’s two-year transition period with the EU ends and the UK officially leaves the EU.
If the UK’s transition period is extended beyond 2021, then the visa charge would not come in until the end of that longer period.
Brits must also register for an electronic visa-waiver, similar to that required for travel to the US, that is valid for three years, according to Sky News.
Citing an anonymous Brussels chief, Sky reported that the draft regulation for the visa waiverr states: “The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) will apply to United Kingdom nationals once union law on free movement of union citizens ceases to apply to them, as to other visa-free third country nationals.”
The latest details on the visa-waiver come after the UK and EU agreed to allow each other’s citizens visa-free travel at a special Brexit summit in November.
The pledge stands even in the case of a no-deal Brexit, and was made by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker last month.
Under the Commission’s proposals, Brits travelling to the EU would not require a visa for short stays of up to 90 days.
Sky reported that the EU has already begun to implement the system.
"Once Etias enters into operation, all visa-exempt non-EU nationals who plan to travel to the Schengen area will have to apply via Etias," a European Commission source told Sky News.