Keir Starmer questioned over his silence on failures of Brexit

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It’s been more than a year since the UK’s official departure from the European Union (EU), and Brits are still having to get to grips with the new EU travel rules imposed. Even more so now as Covid-related travel restrictions have been lifted and holiday booking and business travel have somewhat returned to normal.

Prior to December 31, 2020, UK citizens had the freedom to travel, live, holiday and work anywhere in the EU without permits or visas.

As of January 1, 2021, this freedom of movement came to an end, and new rules impacting travel were implemented to reflect the UK’s membership retraction from the EU.

Rules affecting mobile roaming charges and pet passports, to revoking automatic rights to work and live in EU countries are now in place, along with additional restrictions on lengths of time travelling and visiting EU member states.

This travel length restriction, named the Schengen Area’s 90/180 Day Rule, is bearing a particular influence, however.

What is the Schengen Area’s 90/180 Day Rule?

The Schengen Area, which comprises 26 countries, is an area in Europe that has abolished all passport and other types of border control at their mutual borders.

The area functions as a single jurisdiction for international travel purposes.

The 26 Schengen countries include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

This Schengen Area rule allows UK passport holders only to visit the EU (or vice versa) visa-free for 90 days in any 180-day period.

This can be made up of a series of short visits or one long visit and applies to all countries in the EU with the exception of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and Romania, as these are not part of the Schengen Area.

This means you can make any 90-day trips to the non-Schengen Area countries (despite them still being part of the EU), and still not use up the 90-day allowance.

Once the 90 days are up, the European Commission states that UK visitors will have to apply for a long-term immigration visa, as they would cease to be a tourist or a ‘short stay’ visitor.

By the end of 2022, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) has said a visa waiver program is also expected to come into effect.

The aim of this visa is to help ETIAS “provide a more secure journey to EU member countries” as well as “to strengthen the borders of the Schengen Area by pre-checking the data of travellers before they enter the zone.”

Once in place, those entering the Schengen Area from countries outside of the EU must purchase the visa waiver in order to do so.

The ETIAS visa waiver will cost around £5.80 (€7) for individuals between the ages of 18 and 70, and will be free for those outside of that age range.

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This new rule is already having an adverse impact on Brits travelling abroad – especially for business purposes.

Tobias Schönborn, managing director of mobility service provider visumPOINT said: “Last year no one really travelled, but now that people are starting to travel again, 90 days is proving very tough for frequent travellers like salespeople, especially as personal vacation time is also deducted from the 90-day allowance.

“They are starting to find they are exceeding their limits.”

UK Specialist automation electrical contractor Robin Balme who frequently works in France, told Business Travel News Europe: “I can’t go on summer holiday to Europe any more.

“From June 9, I will have to wait six weeks before I can return to the EU for another two weeks.

“There is more work available for me after the summer holidays but I don’t know if it’s worth going through with because of the red tape.

“It’s certainly affecting my ability to work. A large majority of the work I do is in the EU.

“I also know many people who work in the music industry and they have lost all their European tours. Why use someone from Britain if you can use a European?”

The UK is soon to introduce its own visa waiver, the UK ETA. This will allow EU citizens access to the UK without a visa for short holidays and business trips – but they will need an electric travel authentication.

ETIAS said: “The British government has said the UK visa waiver should be in place by 2025. Once the new system is rolled out, the ETA will become a mandatory entry requirement.”

In light of new rule changes, it’s always best to check the travel advice for the countries you plan to travel to – especially for business purposes. You can check this out, here.

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