Nine European Union member states, including France, Greece, Italy and Portugal, have asked for more time to fully implement the new Entry/Exit System (EES). The difficulties are mainly related to registering the fingerprints and biometric data of nationals from countries outside the EU.
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Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium are also among the countries that have requested an extension of the deadline for completing implementation. The system is intended to modernize checks at the borders of the Schengen area, but practical obstacles have emerged at busy airports and border crossings.
The EES was scheduled to be fully operational on 6 September, following several previous postponements. The European Union approved the system in 2017, while it was officially launched in October last year and was initially scheduled to become fully operational in April.
Technical problems, together with fears of long queues at airports receiving large numbers of tourists, have led some governments to call for a slower transition to full implementation. Spain, which experienced difficulties in the early stages, has now brought the system fully into operation.
Data from EU sources shows that the system has so far registered around 200 million entries. At the same time, around 70,000 people have been prevented from entering the Schengen area, up from approximately 43,700 in June.
The EES collects the biometric data of travelers who are not citizens of an EU country and is used to identify cases in which the permitted period of stay has been exceeded. For British citizens, this means observing the limit of 90 days’ stay within a 180-day period.
European authorities estimate that the EES has also helped detect people traveling with forged documents. By comparing fingerprints with facial images, authorities can identify individuals attempting to cross the border using different passports.
However, the process is not progressing in the same way at all border crossings. Biometric registration has begun at the Eurostar terminal in Brussels and at the port of Antwerp, while some airports have yet to complete the installation and implementation phase.
Major international hubs, including Frankfurt Airport and Schiphol, are already collecting travelers’ biometric data. Smaller airports, by contrast, are facing obstacles because of limited resources and capacity.
According to EU sources, significant implementation problems continue to be reported at only 12 of approximately 1,500 border crossings.
Small airports are a particular concern, as passenger traffic can increase significantly during the tourist season. In one case cited by the EU, around 3,000 passengers could arrive within an hour, while the border crossing has only four booths available for biometric data registration.
Warnings have also come from the aviation sector. The International Air Transport Association previously called for the system to be fully suspended, saying that delays had caused travelers to miss connecting flights in Spain, Italy, Greece and Belgium.
Ryanair has also expressed concern about long waits and possible chaos at airports, specifically mentioning Málaga and Palma.
France faces a specific problem at the port of Dover, where French border checks are carried out on British territory before travelers depart for France. Biometric data registration has not yet begun at this location.
