Third-country nationals, including British citizens who intend to travel via France and specifically Eurostar to the European Schengen Area and/or Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, may soon find they are faced with a series of unexpected questions.
The bloc’s new entry-exit system, or EES, which starts to come into force from 12 October 2025, means that Eurostar passengers will be asked about their accommodation while abroad, their onward or return tickets, their financial means, and their medical coverage.
Although the European Commission has informed reporters that medical insurance is not a prerequisite for Brits entering the Schengen-plus zone under the EES, French officials appear to have decided to apply their national rules to third-country citizens entering French territory – in other words, anyone travelling to Europe through France, whether or not they intend to stay in France.
Update for non-EU nationals travelling to 29 European countries for short stays!
— EU Home Affairs (@EUHomeAffairs) September 20, 2025
Once it goes live on 12 October, the Entry/Exit System will gradually record:
🔸arrival/departure dates
🔸travel document and biometric data
In line with EU data protection rules ↓ #TravelToEurope
What are the French rules on medical insurance?
The French rules require non-EU nationals crossing the border to possess “an insurance certificate covering all medical and hospital expenses for which you may be liable for the duration of your stay in France, as well as medical repatriation costs and expenses in the event of death.”
Though the French have not strictly applied these regulations in the past, with the advent of the EES, the new kiosks installed at London St Pancras, intended to allow Brits to register their passport and biometric details, will ask travellers whether they have medical insurance. Answers can be checked for proof by French border police, aka the Police aux Frontieres (PAF), and it is not clear if the United Kingdom’s Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), which is supposed to provide reciprocal health cover in EU countries, will count, even though the Dutch do not impose the same rules as the French.
The UK government insists that “Medical insurance will not be a mandatory requirement for UK citizens travelling to the EU under EES.” But acquiring “comprehensive travel insurance, including medical cover,” is strongly recommended, it says.
France is the only EU nation demanding medical insurance from "third-country nationals", such as visitors from the UK, US and Venezuela.
— Simon Calder (@SimonCalder) September 24, 2025
Must also cover “expenses in the event of death”
If you are a UK passport holder travelling to France, have you ever been asked for such proof?
Accommodation, personal finance, and return tickets
In addition, the St Pancras kiosks will grill UK Eurostar passengers destined for France or beyond, on whether they already have somewhere to stay, as well as whether they have “sufficient funds” to support themselves during their trip. And what’s more, the process will enquire whether travellers have already booked a return ticket – even though some people may be travelling well beyond France and making their way back to the UK from another part of the world entirely.
For example, a tourist could take a train straight through northern France to Amsterdam, then board a plane at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport headed for Tokyo, Japan. They could intend to fly back three weeks later, direct to London Heathrow from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. It is not yet clear whether this type of “return journey” will be acceptable to French authorities.
The Entry/Exit System is Europe’s new border management system for registering travelers entering EU for a short stay.
— PLinEdinburgh (@PLinEdinburgh) September 29, 2025
From 12 October 29 European countries will progressively roll out the system at their external borders.
More: https://t.co/kAj8kF8qoo pic.twitter.com/SIqMLy7LNJ
Uncertainty
While airports and other points of entry to the Schengen-plus zone are also supposed to be implementing the EES over a six-month period, the questions above may not apply to those travelling by plane or ferry. Travel expert, Simon Calder, writing in The Independent, says the issue “raises the extraordinary prospect that British travellers who choose to travel without insurance to Brussels or Amsterdam will be admitted if they fly, but not if they go by rail, passing through French territory for about 20 minutes.”
However, Euronews Travel says Eurostar told it that questions about medical insurance are a translation error, with a spokesperson claiming, “the English translations are provisional and, as we understand it, will be reviewed and updated by the French Ministry of the Interior.”
Whether a glitch or a permanent feature of the looming EES, this type of uncertainty is unlikely to be the last during its rollout.
