Overview
The policy context concerns the legislative file 2024/0670(COD) on the application for the electronic submission of travel data (“EU Digital Travel application”) and the use of digital travel credentials. The procedure is ongoing, with the European Parliament currently awaiting a committee decision at first reading. This analysis is based on the consolidated summary of proposed amendments to the EU Digital Travel Framework (A-10-2025-0258_EN). The proposed amendments reveal a core tension between enhancing system efficiency and user convenience on one hand, and ensuring robust protections for fundamental rights—particularly data protection, privacy, and user autonomy—on the other. The most contested aspects are the scope and conditions of data processing and the governance and oversight of the system.
Legislative timeline
The legislative procedure began with the referral to the European Parliament committee on 25 November 2024. Key milestones include the committee opinion being tabled on 20 March 2025, the committee report being tabled on 2 April 2025, and committee amendments being tabled on 5 May 2025. The committee adopted its opinion on 3 June 2025 and its report on 3 December 2025. The report was tabled for plenary on 10 December 2025, and the plenary endorsed the committee's position to enter interinstitutional negotiations on 17 December 2025. An interinstitutional negotiation was held on 18 December 2025. The next steps are pending.
Institutional handling
The lead committee in the European Parliament is the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Within the European Commission, the responsible department is the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (HOME), under Commissioner Magnus Brunner. The relevant Council configuration is the Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA).
Stakeholder reactions
Stakeholder engagement with policymakers has been documented through 11 meetings, comprising 6 with Members of the European Parliament and 5 with Commissioners. Nine distinct organisations were involved. The most active organisations in these outreach activities were YouTube (Google), the Atlantic Council, KfW, Fraport AG - Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide, SITA, and IATA.
Media coverage
No media coverage data is provided in the source documents.