News Digest: EU EES Dates Announced & New France-UK Flights & Ferries

As we head into the peak summer travel season, we’ve got a round-up of need-to-know travel news, although not all of it will impact your summer travels. First up, low-cost airline EasyJet is launching a new twice-weekly service between London-Gatwick and Brest in Brittany, which will start from tomorrow, June 25. The route will run twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays, and looks set to continue into winter. Also starting this week is British Airways’ new weekly service from London Stansted to Bergerac Dordogne Périgord airport.

Additionally, EasyJet recently announced new routes from Aberdeen, Scotland, to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, London Gatwick and Toulouse, and Birmingham and London-Southend to Grenoble, but these won’t start until later in the year.

Brittany Ferries has announced a new route (or rather an old route that is being reinstated) this winter, too – a daily service between Poole and Cherbourg will run from December 2025 through to March 2026. The full schedule will be released later in the year.

Finally, if you’re travelling to France next week, make sure to check your flight details before you fly – French air traffic controllers have filed another strike notice, this time for Thursday, July 3rd and Friday, July 4th. Further details aren’t yet known, but if it goes ahead, be sure to double-check flight times and leave extra time to account for any delays.

The long-awaited Entry/Exit System (EES), the electronic passport monitoring system designed to track visitors to the EU, has been announced for October 2025. The system was supposed to come into action last November, at which point it had already been delayed several times, but until recently, the official word was that it would be coming “sometime in 2025”.

We currently don’t have further information, but it’s likely that the authorities will release details of the roll-out in the coming weeks. Although the EES is designed to streamline border procedures in the long term, it’s likely that the initial weeks will see delays at airports, ferry ports, and Eurostar stations in the short-term, as non-EU nationals will be required to fill in pre-registration forms and provide biometric data on their first visit to the EU. A progressive roll-out has been suggested to help ease these delays, but it’s not yet known how this will work in practice.

We’ll keep you updated as we learn more. In the meantime, read our guide: Everything You Need to Know About the EU’s New Entry/Exit System (EES)

Don’t forget to sign up for our free webinar next week! Join us during your lunch break on Tuesday, July 1st, at 12:30pm UK / 1:30pm France for our free Where to start with moving to France – UK webinar. I’ll be joined by a panel of experts to answer all your questions on visas, healthcare, taxes, and removals to France.

Sign up here or by clicking the button below, and don’t forget to send me your questions in advance to [email protected]

If you bought a French property or moved into one after June 30, 2024, don’t forget that you must submit a Declaration d’Occupation. This property tax declaration, which was introduced in 2023, is a legal requirement for all property owners. If you own any kind of property in France, regardless of whether you live in the property, use it as a second home, or rent it out, or whether or not you pay taxes in France – you must fill in this form and declare the occupancy of the property (i.e. whether it is used as a primary or secondary residence, or rented out full-time).

You have until next Monday, June 30, 2025, to make your Declaration d’Occupation – read our guide below for more details. Fines apply for non-compliance.

If you already filled in the form in 2024 or 2023, you don’t need to do it again, unless the occupancy of the property has changed. For example, if you have recently moved to France and now live in your property, you must declare that this is now a “primary residence” and no longer a “second home”.

France’s 2025 Tax Declaration d’Occupation for French Homeowners: Step by Step

If you want to splash out on some new clothes before (or during) the holidays, there’s good news – France’s summer sales are about to start! The sales or les soldes in France only happen twice a year, so you have to move quickly if you want to bag a bargain on clothing, homeware, technology, and plenty of other items.

The soldes d’été start tomorrow, Wednesday, June 15th, throughout mainland France and continue for about a month, until Tuesday, July 22nd. The exception is Corsica, where the summer sales start on July 9th instead and continue until August 5th.

Les Soldes: Local Tips for Shopping at the Sales in France