EU Border Controls in France: What Changes in November 2024?

From November 1st, 2024, travellers entering France from six neighbouring countries will be subject to new temporary border checks. These checks will be in place for a period of six months, lasting until April 1st, 2025, although there is the chance that it will be extended.

The border checks will apply to travellers arriving from Spain, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland, but not Monaco or Andorra. They will apply to all travellers entering France, whether by land, by sea, or by air.

You might be wondering why border checks are being put in place. After all, isn’t the whole point of the Schengen Zone to enable border-free travel and freedom of movement between member states? Well, firstly, don’t worry: this doesn’t actually change the rights of EU citizens or the rights of travellers to move around within the Schengen Zone – it is simply an extra security measure.

France is following the lead of Germany, which also recently reinstated border checks, citing the increase in illegal immigration and the rise in terrorist threats as their reasons.

The official reason given by France is as follows:

“Serious threats to public policy, public order, and internal security posed by high-level terrorist activities, the growing presence of criminal networks facilitating irregular migration and smuggling, and migration flows that risk infiltration by radicalized individuals, as well as the irregular crossings on the Channel and North Sea borders, along with rising violence among migrants, particularly in northern coastal areas such as Dunkirk and Calais, leading to tense and dangerous situations involving both migrants and law enforcement; borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Swiss Confederation, Italy, and Spain (land, air, and sea).”

Under the Schengen Borders Code, Member States are allowed to temporarily reintroduce border controls at internal borders as a last-resort measure if there are serious threats to public policy or security. In the past year, several countries, including Denmark, Austria, Germany, Norway, and Sweden, have all done this, citing reasons from the Ukraine War to the Olympic Games. You can see a full list of the current temporary border checks in place here.

However, this is the first time that France has imposed such checks since the Covid-19 pandemic, leading many to suspect that their introduction has more to do with the country’s recent political changes and the internal push to clamp down on immigration rather than being related to specific figures regarding terrorist threats or illegal movement.

Regardless of the reasoning, the fact remains that these new checks will come into action on November 1st. So, how will this affect travellers?

Firstly, it’s important to clarify that this doesn’t change anything concerning your right to travel to France – the 90/180-day rule still applies to citizens of the US, UK, and other applicable countries, and long-stay visas are still required for stays of over 90 days. Anyone arriving in France from a non-EU country will still have to undergo the usual border controls, and anyone arriving in France from an EU country not on the above list (i.e. any country other than Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain) will not have to undergo any further border checks.

The rules will only affect those arriving in France from Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Swiss Confederation, Italy, and Spain. The new border checks are expected to mostly target those crossing road borders, so if you are flying or taking a ferry, you may not notice any changes. However, it’s important to prepare for the possibility – make sure you have your passport and any relevant visas/residency cards ready in case you are asked to present them and be prepared for possible delays on arrival if checks are being carried out. Your transport carrier will be able to tell you if there are any further requirements or expected delays.

For those travelling by road across any of the land borders with the aforementioned countries, there are really only two changes:

1. You must carry your passport (non-EU citizen) or national ID card (EU citizens only) with you, as this is the only form of identification that will be accepted. Most travellers probably will have this with them anyway, but day-trippers or cross-border workers might not always think to carry their passport when driving over the border (it’s worth noting that it is required even when these checks aren’t in place, so this is a good habit to get into!).
2. Crossing land borders may take longer than usual, and traffic jams are possible if lots of checks are carried out. It’s therefore important to account for this possibility when planning your journey.

While the police have the right to stop any car crossing the border, EU law specifies that the checks must be “proportionate and limited to the minimum time necessary to ensure safety”, so it’s probable that not every car will be stopped.

There’s also been a lot of talk about the new EU Entry/Exit System, which was finally set to be launched on November 10^th. However, this has once again been delayed and isn’t expected to come into force until 2025. At least that’s one less thing for travellers to worry about this year!

Similarly, the ETIAS travel authorization system, which will affect all non-EU travellers, will not be coming into action until 2025.

Whether you are a regular traveller to France, planning a property hunting visit, or simply visiting on vacation, our Travel to France zone has the latest travel news, updates, and advice on everything related to travelling to France.