Travelers across Europe can breathe a sigh of relief following the European Union’s decision to hit the pause button on its new Entry/Exit System (EES), a program designed to replace traditional passport stamps with biometric data collection. EU commission spokesperson Markus Lammert confirmed on Monday, July 6, that authorities have the flexibility to temporarily suspend the registration of biometrics when border crossings face exceptionally high pressure.
Under the planned system, travelers are required to visit an immigration booth or kiosk to register passport details alongside facial images and fingerprints. While children under 12 are exempt from providing fingerprints, the commission maintains that the EES will eventually reduce average processing times from 90 seconds to 20 seconds per person. The primary goal of the system is to better identify non-EU travelers who overstay their short-stay visas or attempt to work illegally within the bloc. Although the EES applies to all countries outside the Schengen area, British tourists remain a primary focus of the new requirements.
The commission’s move to allow national governments to bypass biometric collection during peak periods follows intense pressure from the aviation industry. In an open letter dated July 1, major European airports, airlines, and aviation bodies warned that implementing the EES during the summer holidays would cause border delays of up to five hours, potentially leading to half-empty flights and disrupted travel plans. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary was particularly vocal, characterizing the system as a mix of bureaucratic incompetence and a punitive measure against Brexit.
The EES has faced a turbulent history since its inception. Originally scheduled for a 2020 launch, the system suffered repeated delays and only became operational last October. The project has also been marred by controversy regarding its IT implementation. A 2019 contract awarded to a consortium including the French firm Atos, IBM, and Leonardo was initially valued at €142m, but costs have since climbed to €212m. Furthermore, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation last year following reports that Atos’s Moscow office had been involved in software procurement.
While the commission attributes many of the project’s delays to existing infrastructure constraints and staffing shortages rather than the system itself, the industry remains skeptical. To mitigate these risks, the EU has stated that its border agency, Frontex, will be available to support overstretched border points. As the bloc integrates this new biometric framework, officials hope to avoid the teething problems that often accompany large-scale IT deployments, especially during the high-traffic summer season.
Instead of manual passport stamps at immigration, travellers are now to be directed to an immigration booth or a kiosk at the border entry point, where their passport details and biometric data such as a facial image and fingerprints, will be recorded, though children under 12 will not have to provide fingerprints.
Like the UK’s own border changes to introduce inspections on goods and produce arriving from the EU, the EES has been repeatedly delayed.
