Of course.

The EU Commission speaking on a matter of policy vs a bloke on an expat forum's opinion.

Time is what will sort out who had it right.

This is already done at many airports efficiently using e-gates. There is generally a funnel to a border agent if for some reason you can’t pass through or if they don’t want you to pass through

EU or Schengen passports holders will always go on e-gates, unless faulty.
Non-EU/Schengen passport holders on short stay (90days or less) will go to e-gates. Nationals with any EU right to stay over 90 days, go to manual boots.

I have been following this thread with great interest and I would like to bring to the Forum's attention a small detail I have not yet seen mentioned to do with the requirement to provide proof of sufficient finances for the duration of stay in Schengen . It has already been mentioned that neither banking phone apps nor credit and debit cards will be accepted as proof , only bank statements will suffice . Having read this I logged into my online banking to see what I could print off to possibly fit the bill , and was quite surprised to find that my current account statement did not give any names but did display the account number and sort code . Would this mean that I would have to show the border guard my credit card to link my name to the printed statement so he could then cross check the name in my passport ? All this kefuffle at Border Control would certainly cause delays and probably a few frayed tempers and I truly hope that all the necessary checks will be included in one's ETIAS application .

Info is here.

Safest thing seems to be a bank card + monthly account statement on paper + mini statement from cash machine so it's up to date since they won't allow bank letters or online banking?

If you are asked for it then it's probably because of a random check or you look like the kind of person they don't want visiting so you'd have to be unlucky.

I'm going to write to the EU for some clarity on this and find out exactly how EES will be integrated into the system and how third country nationals will be checked.

It's probably good to make traveling as uncomfortable as possible. In truth we should be discussing climate change and what we need to do to prevent Europe from turning into a desert. Not flying and radically limiting traveling should be pushed and encouraged by all politicians.

Good lord ! …. Those peasant third party nationals, they should be banished 😂

Don’t you think it will differ port to port (as is to some degree now) ?

The reality is the EU won’t know their ar$e from their elbow this far out

You mean a PR agency dealing with 1000’s of questions each week from punters speaking on a matter of policy that is yet to come into force vs a bloke on an Internet forum …. Exactly 😁 …… of course journalists and the EU always give out 100% correct info don’t they? Much like forum posters.

but aren’t you are also a poster on an Internet forum with some very strong opinions at times ? …. Just saying 😉 …

Reality is it’s all mute at the moment and likely will be for a very long time.

Nothing mute about it.

The Commission is quite happy to divulge what's in store and has done so on multiple occasions. If you want to go on insisting there's any doubt about it, based on whatever goes on elsewhere, fine. However, I believe that the chief requirements and functionality have already been decided long ago and it's only the implementation that remains to be done.

Fair enough ….. you have your beliefs I have mine …. We are not poles apart ….. we just perhaps view things slightly differently based on our own experiences. I actually hope it works out and is genuinely efficient for everyone. The real world does tell us though that any system of this kind takes quite a while to bed in although I’m quite sure the EU will have learnt a lot from some of the wrinkles and challenges that other countries and regions have experienced some instances of which have taken years to perfect.

Seems pretty clear to me :-)

We hold all the cards... and proof of return travel and accommodation and will have it prepared for inspection.

Hilarious. 😁…. . what about the letter of invitation and the printed, signed and stamped bank statements with the bank mangers fingerprint in blood.

Great photoshop 😂

An image search lead to this, which appears to be earliest source. Looks okay to me.