The European Union has officially rejected the demands of airlines and airport associations for the complete suspension of the implementation of the entry/exit system, the new biometric border control system, EES – Entry/Exit System, whose troubles we recently wrote about on the Autonet pages. The EES system was developed for eight years to strengthen security after the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. It replaces traditional passport stamping with fingerprint scanning and facial recognition for third-country nationals, including the UK after Brexit.
EU officials admit that the system currently has about 20 critical points where major congestion occurs, but they do not consider a temporary suspension of the rules an option.
Why Brussels is not giving in
High-ranking officials of the European Commission point out that a partial suspension, i.e. application of the system in some countries and suspension in others, would lead to additional chaos and situations in which passengers would be trapped at crossings. Out of a total of 1,500 border points within the Schengen area, 20 are considered problematic. Brussels says that solving local bottlenecks is the responsibility of the member states themselves, which should introduce additional measures to speed up the flow.
There are first results, claims Brussels
According to Brussels, the system is already showing the planned results. 110 million trips to and from the Schengen zone were recorded, and entry was refused for around 44,500 people. The main reason for refusal was the lack of adequate justification for the stay, while around 9,000 cases related to exceeding the permitted stay of 90 days.
Deadline that expires in September
Airports are seeking permanent flexibility, but the EU recalls that existing rules already allow for the temporary suspension of biometric check-in at six-hour intervals if queues become unmanageable. That option expires in September. Despite pressure from the tourism and aviation sectors, no member state has so far officially requested an extension of the exemption beyond the summer season.