On Tuesday 18 February, members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties discussed with the European Commission, the Polish Presidency of the EU Council and eu-LISA (the EU Agency for the operational management of large-scale EU information systems) the repeated delays to the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), which was due to come into force three years ago and is still not operational.
During this exchange of views, the Commission and the European agency responsible for managing the interoperability of European information systems acknowledged that they had “underestimated the degree of complexity” of this system, which is designed to control the entry and exit of travellers from third countries, and in particular the overstaying of authorised periods of stay, according to Marili Männik, acting Executive Director of eu-LISA.
‘We’re not in the best possible situation” said the Commission’s representative, Olivier Onidi.
The Deputy Director-General of DG Home cited the Covid-19 pandemic in particular, “which created an 18-month delay” he also admitted that “we probably underestimated the complexity” of the task, acknowledging that the delay in the EES is also delaying the start-up of other planned schemes, such as ETIAS, which will create an additional requirement for visa-exempt travellers from third countries wishing to visit the EU.
“The responsibility is therefore collective”, he continued, citing the numerous parameters and details required to make this system work, as well as the repeated requests from Member States which have made the system even more complex.
The EES system was due to re-enter into force in November 2024, but three Member States - France, the Netherlands and Germany - have indicated that they are not ready, thus preventing the programme from being launched.
Since then, the Commission has proposed a regulation to phase in the EES over a period of 6 months, at the end of which all Member States must be in a position to launch the system (see EUROPE 13539/9).
The Polish Presidency gave assurances on Tuesday that a general approach would be found at the EU ‘Home Affairs’ Council on 6 March. The eu-LISA agency, for its part, assured the MEPs that it was in contact with the three countries lagging behind and was working with the contractors. A consortium of companies, including ATOS, IBM and Leonardo, was commissioned for the EES in 2019, but it has reportedly run into technical difficulties.
Belgian MEP Assita Kanko (ECR), the European Parliament’s rapporteur, said that she understands the latecomers. “But my patience is not infinite”, she commented. “The time has come for the EES to start and work”, she said, adding that “we cannot punish member countries like mine, which have done their work”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)