EU plans new travel pass for British travellers

The European Union (EU) is planning to introduce a new pass for British travellers as part of a wider security crackdown to identify potential troublemakers, it emerged today.
The European Commission is discussing bringing in a version of the visa waiver programme which British travellers to the US already have to apply for.
Sir Julian King, European commissioner for the security union, said that plans to introduce an electronic system for travel authorisation or Esta would help identify potential troublemakers before they arrived at border control gates.
"We think this is going to be a valuable additional piece of the jigsaw because it will allow us to know more about the people who are planning to come to the EU in advance so that if necessary they raise questions about either security or in some cases migration. We'll be able to intervene even before they arrive," King said.

The US scheme requires international travellers who are exempt from visa requirements to apply for an Esta and pay around 10 pounds before entering the territory.
It lasts for two years.

According to 'The Times', if a similar scheme were to operate in the EU, British travellers could be forced to apply online before taking trips to mainland Europe.
Currently British passport holders can travel throughout EU member states without having to apply for any kind of short-term visas.
However, even though the UK is still in the union until Brexit officially takes place, the new visa waiver would apply as it will be to monitor people entering the so-called Schengen zone of free movement, which excludes Britain.

King added: "The fact that we're having this conversation now is unfortunately timely, because Sunday is one year on from the horrible attacks in Paris which were part of a series of attacks that shocked France, shocked the whole of Europe.
"It's that level of present, persistent, indiscriminate threat that led to 80-plus per cent of European citizens saying they want more action in this area.
"There are a number of elements at the heart of this task; tackling terrorism is one, but not the only part of it. There's work that needs to be done on cybercrime and attacks, and serious and organised crime."

"On terrorism there were a number of things already in hand."
These include making it more difficult to get hold of deactivated firearms in the EU, as well as plans to criminalise travel to and from Syria and Iraq, and making changes to checks at passport control that are designed to increase the amount of information known about the traveller without slowing down the process at passport control.
He said that further meetings were planned with internet service providers (ISP) in an attempt to reduce the emergence of so-called "home-grown" terror cells.