Three months after its entry into force, the new European Entry/Exit System (EES) has already “significantly strengthened border security” in the EU, according to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs in a statement published on Sunday 18 January.
Since it was set up last October, the EES has recorded almost 20 million entries and exits and has led to “nearly 10,000 refusals of entry, preventing 10,000 illegal arrivals”, according to the press release.
The system has also proved its worth in the detection of identity fraud, notably enabling entry attempts of an Ethiopian national and two Iraqi nationals to be foiled, as they were using false British refugee documents and claiming to be from Eritrea and Iran.
The EES involves registering the entry and exit of non-EU nationals at the Union’s external borders, replacing the manual stamp with a biometric identity check (facial photograph and fingerprints). In the press release, Magnus Brunner, Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, described it as “a revolutionary tool for protecting our common borders”, saying that it constitutes “the digital backbone of the EU’s migration and asylum reform”.
The Commission praised the “close coordination” with Member States and airports in launching the system, noting that most countries had exceeded the 35% target for biometric enrolment by mid-November, well ahead of the commonly set deadline of 10 January 2026. Technical improvements will continue to be made until the system is fully operational, scheduled for 10 April. (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)