Council backs EU digital travel app mandate to speed border checks
The Council of the European Union has adopted its negotiating mandate for a regulation to launch an EU digital travel application, under which travellers—EU citizens and third-country nationals—may voluntarily create and use digital travel credentials to pre-submit data and enable remote checks at external EU borders. Developed by eu-LISA, the system will comprise a mobile app, a backend validation service and a traveller router, and will link with the Entry/Exit System (operational since October 2025), ETIAS (from 2026) and digital visa applications, with passports/ID cards still required at the border. The measure aims to cut waiting times, strengthen document authenticity checks and enhance security against fraud and illegal migration across the EU’s external frontiers. tTe Council presidency will open negotiations with the European Parliament once Parliament agrees its position; no change for travellers until the law is adopted and implemented, and use of digital credentials will remain optional.