Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/331 of 24 February 2021 on the reporting of abuses committed by commercial intermediaries providing application services for travel authorisation under Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 of the European Parliament and of the Council
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/331 of 24 February 2021 on the reporting of abuses committed by commercial intermediaries providing application services for travel authorisation under Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 of the European Parliament and of the Council
Data as of 2026-07-04 · Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
1. The reporting of abuse by a commercial intermediary shall be made using a form containing the information and fulfilling the technical requirements set out in points 1 to 7 of the Annex.
2. It shall be possible for the form to be completed in any of the official languages of the Union.
3. Before submitting the form, applicants shall be requested to provide confirmation of their having understood and consented to the general conditions applicable to the submission of a report on abuse, including that the applicant should not provide any personal data in his/her report, and the purposes for which the information provide shall be used, as set out in point 7 of the Annex.
4. Once submitted, the form shall automatically be sent to the ETIAS Central Unit.
The limitations on the number and size of additional files that may be uploaded shall be set out in the technical specifications referred to in Article 73(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240.
1. A notification of the receipt of the report of the abuse shall automatically appear on the screen of the applicant. The applicant shall be offered the possibility to save locally or print the acknowledgment of receipt.
2. Notifications shall at least include the following:
(a)
acknowledgement of receipt of the report and confirmation of the date and time at which the form was submitted
(b)
a reminder of all relevant information in relation to submitting an application for a travel authorisation as referred to in Article 71 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240;
(c)
information that the report of abuse shall be used to assist the monitoring and improving of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System. By contrast, the reporting facility is not intended to provide remedies in individual cases and is not a substitute for the pursuit of any claims in administrative, civil or criminal law that may be provided for under the applicable national law.
1. The ETIAS Central Unit shall:
(a)
monitor, process and analyse all reports of abuses;
(b)
publish on the dedicated public website and in the application for mobile devices relevant information in order to prevent abuses.
2. Once a year, the ETIAS Central Unit shall submit a report to the Commission, which shall at least include:
(a)
an anonymised description of the cases of abuse reported, including similarities between the cases, recurrences, trends and characteristics;
(b)
an overview of the actions taken to adapt the information to the general public and applicants.
The form to report abuses shall be designed and implemented to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, availability, protection of personal data and non-repudiation of transactions as referred to in the Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2017/46 ( 10 ) . Its technical and organisational implementation shall meet the requirements of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System’s security plan, referred in Article 59(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240, and shall comply with the rules on data protection and security applicable to the public website and the application for mobile devices referred to in Article 16(10) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240.
ANNEX
FORM FOR REPORTING ABUSE BY COMMERCIAL INTERMEDIARIES SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION FOR A TRAVEL AUTHORISATION ON BEHALF OF AN APPLICANT
1. Introduction
(a)
The form for reporting abuse by commercial intermediaries is to have the following title:
“
Form for reporting abuse by commercial intermediaries submitting an application for a travel authorisation on behalf of an applicant.
”
(b)
The following introductory notice is to appear at the beginning of this form:
“
Please complete this form to report incidents of abuse you may have experienced by a commercial intermediary applying for a travel authorisation on your behalf.
Please note that the information you provide will be used to assist the monitoring and improving of ETIAS.
Please do not insert any personal data in this form, whether they are yours or those of any other person.
”
(c)
The form must contain prompts requesting and permitting the entry of the data elements set out in the table below (though not necessarily in the order listed) in accordance with the standards, formats and requirements indicated.
2. Circumstances of the abuse
Circumstances of the abuse
Standard
Format
Requirement
The applicant must be offered the possibility to indicate whether his/her complaint has arisen in one or more of the following circumstances:
—
the applicant knowingly authorised a commercial intermediary to submit an application on his/her behalf
—
the applicant completed the application directly without knowing that he or she was using a non-official EU website operated by a commercial intermediary
—
other
N/A
Tick boxes.
Mandatory.
If the reply to the “circumstances of the abuse” is ‘other’.
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, spaces, diacritics, apostrophes and hyphens only.
[number of characters permitted: 255]
Mandatory.
3. Information about the traveller reporting the abuse
Information
Standard
Format
Requirement
Country of birth
ISO 3166-1
Selection list of all countries, including countries that no longer exist.
Mandatory.
“Unknown” as a selectable option shall be available.
Nationality
ISO 3166-1
Selection list of all countries, including countries that no longer exist.
Mandatory.
“Unknown” as a selectable option shall be available.
Age group
N/A
18-25
26-40
41-55
> 55
Optional.
Gender
Tick boxes: Male/Female/Other
Optional.
4. Details of the abuse
Details of the abuse
Standard
Format
Requirement
Date of abuse
N/A
DD
Month as word/YYYY
Optional.
Mandatory.
Description and consequences of abuse
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, apostrophes and hyphens only.
[Number of characters permitted: to be defined]
Mandatory.
Travel authorisation received
N/A
Tick boxes: yes/no/I do not know.
Mandatory.
The total fee charged for travel authorisation and the provision of intermediary services
N/A
Free text (digits and currency).
Mandatory.
“not applicable” option shall be available
Payment method of fee
N/A
Free text.
Mandatory.
“not applicable” option shall be available
5. Information regarding the commercial intermediary
Information
Standard
Format
Requirement
Commercial name of the commercial intermediary
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, apostrophes and hyphens. Other special characters: “!”, “@”, “#”, “$”, “&”, “*”, “?”.
Mandatory.
Main commercial activities
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, apostrophes and hyphens. Other special characters: “!”, “@”, “#”, “$”, “&”, “*”, “?”.
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Internet address
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, oblique characters and hyphens only.
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Email
N/A
Local-part@domain
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available
Work phone number
ITU T, E.123 and E.164(country codes)
Selection list with all country codes, and free text (digits only).
Mandatory
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Mailing address
—
Street name
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, apostrophes, oblique characters and hyphens only.
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Mailing address:
—
Street number
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, oblique characters and hyphens only.
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Mailing address:
—
Apartment number
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, oblique characters and hyphens only.
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Mailing address:
—
2 nd line address
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, apostrophes, oblique characters and hyphens only.
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Mailing address:
—
Town/City
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, apostrophes and hyphens only.
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Mailing address:
—
Postal Code
N/A
Free text, including: latin-alphabet characters A-Z, digits, spaces, diacritics, oblique characters and hyphens only.
Mandatory.
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
Mailing address:
—
Country
ISO 3166-1
Selection list of countries dependent territories and special areas of geographical interest.
Mandatory
“Not applicable” option shall be available.
6. Supporting documentation
Supporting documentation
Standard
Format
Requirement
The applicant must be offered the possibility to upload documents in support of the report (where available).
The applicant must acknowledge that the documents he/she will upload do not contain any personal data, or that he/she took care and redacted the personal data before he/she will upload the documents.
N/A
Uploading box
Tick box
Size and number of additional files that may be uploaded.
Accepted formats: Portable Document Format (PDF); Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG); Portable Network Graphics (PNG)).
7. Notice and consent
Notice and consent
Standard
Format
Requirement
Prior to submission, the applicant must be offered the possibility to confirm:
(i)
the applicant’s understanding that the information provided will be used to assist the monitoring and improving of ETIAS.
(ii)
the applicant’s understanding that the reporting facility does not constitute an appeal procedure against a refusal, annulment or revocation of a travel authorisation imputable to the conduct of a commercial intermediary. Neither does it provide remedies in individual cases and is not a substitute for the pursuit of any claims in civil or criminal law that may be provided for under the applicable national law.
(iii)
the applicant is informed that no personal data should be included in the report and where personal data are nonetheless provided consents that the data will be redacted.
N/A
Tick box
Mandatory.
