On Monday 19 May, negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) after two meetings (see EUROPE 13626/5).
After years of delay since its adoption in 2017 and just as many technical difficulties, at the end of 2024 the Commission proposed that Member States gradually roll-out this new smart border system, which would digitally record all entries and exits, passport data, fingerprints and facial images of third-country nationals travelling to the EU for short stays.
Replacing manual passport control, the EES should shorten control times and make it easier to detect fraud and overstays.
Although the scheme was due to come into force in November 2024, three Member States (France, the Netherlands and Germany) said they were still unable to launch it. At the time, the Commission had proposed a gradual entry into force.
Member States will therefore start using the system gradually, over a period of six months, and will aim to register at least 10% of border crossings (at external borders) by the end of the first month.
After three months, Member States should be using EES - with biometric functionalities - at a minimum of 35% of their border crossing points. EU countries are expected to achieve full registration of all persons after six months.
In principle, this deployment phase should start this autumn, but a separate Commission decision is still required to set the launch date.
Until the end of this transition period, Member States will also continue to stamp travel documents manually.
But the new rules will also allow Member States that are already ready to make the system fully operational from day one.
The EU’s Entry/Exit System, once up and running, should also make life easier for British citizens, as the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, got the EU to make it easier for British nationals to cross external borders, using e-gates like European travellers (see other news).
“After years of delay, we now have a realistic and orderly roadmap for the launch of this essential security tool. There will be no chaos at the borders, but rather a controlled deployment”, said ECR rapporteur Assita Kanko (Belgian). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)