Britons may be forced to pay a fee in order to visit Europe after Brexit, according to plans reportedly being drafted by the European Commission (EC).

A scheme being debated by the executive body of the European Union suggests the 26-nation Schengen zone, which does not include the UK, could operate a visa programme comparable to the United States' ESTA scheme, according to the Guardian.

Currently, the US ESTA system requires travellers from participating countries from the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) to apply to visit online. Since 2010 a payment of $14 (£10) has been required to obtain the ESTA.

Such a programme has been backed by France and Germany following calls for bolstered security throughout Europe after a string of terror attacks on European soil, according to EU sources.

All 26 countries in the Schengen Area have abolished passports and border control at their mutual borders.

Although not a member of the zone, British nationals are able to travel freely within it after showing a valid passport upon entry.

But after Britain's exit from the bloc, UK citizens may be forced to apply to visit the zone and pay a fee, legal experts have said.

Leave campaigners admitted such a scheme could be a possibility in the build-up to the EU referendum.

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Show all 6 1 /6 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you More expensive foreign holidays The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more nito100 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you No immediate change in immigration status The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Higher inflation A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation – a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods – food and clothes being the most obvious – but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Interest rates might rise The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Did somebody say recession? Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economy’s future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018 AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you And we wouldn’t even get our money back All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years’ time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget Getty Images

In April, Conservative MP and leading leave campaigner Dominic Raab said Britons could need a visa “or some other kind of check” to travel to continental Europe after Brexit.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Politics show, Mr Raab said the issue would be a matter for post-withdrawal negotiations with the EU.

“I think we’d have to look at that as part of the negotiations in detail. But look, at the moment president Barack Obama’s administration … is looking at new visa requirements and screening from Germany, Belgium, Greece, France, because of the recent terrorist attacks," he said.

Earlier on Friday, Boris Johnson confirmed he had abandoned his EU referendum promise to introduce points-based immigration curbs.

During the campaign, the now-Foreign Secretary claimed the Australian-style system would tackle immigration that was “completely out of control” and would “neutralise the extremists” on the toxic issue.

On Monday, however, Theresa May announced she had rejected the idea – despite it being a key focus of the Vote Leave campaign, backed by Mr Johnson.

Asked if he agreed, the Foreign Secretary said the important point was that immigration was curbed, not the exact form that control took.