Visa, electronic travel authorization… all the changes to expect for your travels in Europe and around the world in 2025

The Council of the European Union has decided: from January 1, 2025, Romania and Bulgaria will be integrated into the Schengen area. It will therefore be possible for European citizens to benefit from free movement in these new countries thanks to their identity card. An opening of land borders long contested by Austria which had even vetoed it, fearing an influx of migrants.

Romania and Bulgaria demanded this total lifting of borders, while maritime and air controls have no longer existed since March 2024. This has also provoked strong reactions, with the Romanians and Bulgarians refusing this impression of ” second-class European citizen. An anti-European feeling which could explain the unexpected score of a pro-Russian conspiracy candidate in the first round of the presidential election in Romania (vote canceled by the Supreme Court after suspicions of manipulation on social networks).

A new British “visa” online, and soon in Europe?

From April 2, 2025, the passport will no longer allow you to enter the United Kingdom as has been the case since Brexit. You will now need to pay an electronic travel authorization (ETA) worth 12 euros, 72 hours before your departure and valid for 2 years. And this even if you are only in transit on British crown lands.

A similar entry ticket is also being considered in Europe, for some 1.4 billion nationals of visa-exempt countries, such as the United States, Canada, Brazil and the United Kingdom. This authorization, called Etias (European Travel Information and Authorization System), should cost 7 euros and will be necessary to enter 30 European countries, including France. The project has, however, already been postponed, being initially planned for spring 2025, due to too few electronic security devices at border entrances installed in European airports. So you still have a little time left to collect the stamps on your passport, before they are replaced by QR codes and ever more sophisticated biometric controls.