At first glance, it does not make sense why ETIAS should be a good weapon in the fight against terrorism. After all, it is only a form that tourists and business people have to fill out before entering the country. However, if you look at the current situation and consider what will change with ETIAS, it quickly becomes clear. Now, travellers from certain countries are allowed to enter the Schengen area without a visa. These are countries from which it is assumed that there is no great danger. Nevertheless, one cannot be sure. The USA recognised this years ago and introduced ESTA. In the meantime, travellers have become accustomed to it and there are hardly any problems when entering the country.

 The information is checked against several databases

 After the traveller has submitted his or her application, the process is always the same. Several databases already exist, and some are still being created. Among others, there is the Schengen Information System, the Visa Information System, the Eurodoc database and data from Europol. The ETIAS Watchlist is particularly important. This is data on persons who have already attracted attention for a criminal offence or who are believed to be planning terrorist activities.

 There is also a database of travel documents that have been reported stolen. This is important if an applicant wants to fill out an ETIAS permit with a stolen passport.

Of course, all data protection regulations are strictly adhered to when collecting the data.

 Filling out the ETIAS application correctly

 ETIAS can, of course, only fulfil its purpose if all the data is entered truthfully into the form. Some data will automatically be rejected at the border. This is usually the case if the information does not match the passport. Therefore, one should be very careful, especially with the passport number. Even a small mistake will invalidate ETIAS.

 If a database reports a hit during data matching, the application is forwarded to the national authorities. They then check the traveller by hand. Only if this institution also determines that the traveller could pose a danger is the application rejected. The applicant can appeal against this.

 Travellers can be rejected when crossing the border

Even with an approved ETIAS application, tourists and business travellers may be refused. The border official has the right to refuse entry. He will always do so if he believes that the traveller poses a danger. In practice, this may rarely happen, but one should be aware of this basic possibility and behave accordingly at the border.