The ANVR is sounding the alarm because of a growing number of measures taken by individual European states.
The measures in the UK, Germany and Spain make it more difficult for consumers and business travellers to travel freely in Europe.
The restrictive measures are taken to combat terrorism, but the question is whether this is effective and it is disproportionate to the inconvenience to travellers.
ANVR asks the Minister of Foreign Affairs Veldkamp for an interview and an urgent request to raise the issue in the EU.
Germany reimposed border controls last week.
The delay is not too bad at the moment, but experience from the corona period shows that waiting times will increase sharply during busy holiday periods, says the ANVR.
At the beginning of September, it was also announced that the United Kingdom will introduce an electronic travel authorization system from April 2025.
This ETA for entry into the United Kingdom must be applied for in advance and costs 10 British pounds.
This is true even for children and babies.
British citizens who want to visit the EU for a holiday do not have to apply for or pay anything when they arrive in the EU.
Finally, a decree has been introduced in Spain whereby accommodation and car rental services booked and performed in Spain from October 1, 2024 must share a wide list of data with the Spanish authorities in advance.
For a simple overnight stay, a total of more than 40 pieces of information must be shared, including bank account numbers, phone details, and passport details of the traveler.
Although the measure will take effect in two weeks, it is completely unclear how this data should be transferred and what guarantees the Spanish government can provide with regard to the privacy of the shared data.
‘With the lifting of border controls at the time, free travel after the Schengen agreement was signed, but also with the arrival of the Euro, it has become much easier for travellers to visit family within Europe, enjoy beautiful holidays or make a business trip. The proposed measures are disproportionate and make it a lot more difficult for the traveler,’ says ANVR director Frank Radstake.
The ANVR asks the Minister of Foreign Affairs to take strong action and discuss the proposed measures in the EU.
Radstake: ‘If other countries also start taking these kinds of measures, we will really go back 30 years.’
