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WEATHER

TRAFFIC LATEST: Which Swedish roads should you avoid on Wednesday?

Snow in central Sweden trapped hundreds of cars in traffic jams overnight and closed the Öland Bridge - but which roads are open and which should you still avoid?

TRAFFIC LATEST: Which Swedish roads should you avoid on Wednesday?
Lorries stuck on the E4 northbound outside Jönköping on Wednesday morning. Photo: Mattias Landström/TT

National road 47 between Trollhättan and Oskarshamn

At lunchtime on Wednesday, hundreds of cars were still at a standstill on national road 47 in Västra Götaland, with around 200 lorries stranded on Wednesday morning.

In addition to this, some cars were driving in the wrong direction, according to public broadcaster SVT.

“A number of people have decided to drive around [the traffic jam] despite the road conditions and our recommendations. We’ve heard that people have turned around and driven in the wrong direction,” police press spokesperson August Brandt told SVT.

E4 and E20 motorways and national road 26

Transport Administration press officer Bengt Olsson has warned drivers to avoid the E4 northbound at Jönköping, as well as the E20 motorway and national road 26.

“We still have long-distance trucks stuck at the side of the road, which means it can be tight to get past. If you can avoid driving there I think you should do so,” he told SVT.

All of the cars that were stuck on the E4 between Huskvarna and Gränna overnight had been able to continue their journeys as of 9am this morning, Jönköping municipality said in a press statement, although drivers are still encouraged to avoid the road due to ongoing snow removal, and cars are being diverted via Eksjö.

“Road conditions are still difficult and we encourage everyone who can avoid driving to do so. The Transport Administration and the technical office are going to have to shovel the roads,” vice head of Jönköping rescue services Göran Melin told TT newswire.

There are also traffic jams on the E4 between Torsvik and the Asecs shopping centre in Jönköping northbound, as well as on the 933 road between Huskvarna and Gränna.

The E20 outside Mariefred in Sörmland was also at a standstill on Wednesday just before noon after an accident by the Läggesta services, P4 Sörmland reports.

The Öland Bridge

The bridge linking the island of Öland with the mainland was closed on Wednesday morning but has now reopened, although there’s a risk it could be closed again if winds pick up.

“If there are strong gusts of wind on the Öland Bridge there’s a risk that tall or heavily loaded vehicles could get blown away,” Olsson told SVT.

Road 55 north of Norrköping

In Östergötland there is snow and black ice on many roads, including road 55, which was at a standstill northbound on Wednesday morning due to a lorry driving into the barrier in the central reservation and blocking traffic, SVT reports. The road was still closed at noon on Wednesday and is expected to open again this afternoon.

If you’re planning to head out on the Swedish roads this afternoon, make sure to check your planned route via the Transport Administration’s website.

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TRAVEL NEWS

How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE

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