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Brussels / AFP
The EU unveiled plans on Wednesday to charge travellers five euros ($5.30) for security checks to get visa-free travel to Europe’s borderless Schengen area, and confirmed the fee would apply to post-Brexit Britain.
The proposal is based on a US system and will allow EU countries to quickly cross check identity documents and other details from visa-exempt travellers with a host of data bases. Nationals from nearly 60 countries are exempt from having visas to the Schengen zone, including those from the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Chile, Argentina as well as neighbours like Albania and Bosnia.
Under the proposed new system, citizens from those countries would still be allowed visa-free travel, but would have to pay the five-euro fee and submit to the checks.