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UPDATE: EU postpones launch of EES border entry system once again

The EU has announced that its EES border system - which includes taking biometric data from non-EU visitors - will be delayed once again from its planned start date of May 2023.

Published: 19 January 2023 10:40 CET
UPDATE: EU postpones launch of EES border entry system once again
Photo by ERIC PIERMONT / AFP

Schengen countries are set to tighten up security at the external borders with the introduction of a new digital system (EES) to record the entry and exit of non-EU citizens.

The new system, which will require non-EU travellers to register and have biometric data including fingerprints taken at the border, was due to come into force in May 2023 after already having been pushed back from 2022.

But this week it was announced – perhaps to no-one’s surprise – that the system will not be ready by May. Although a new date has not been set the EU now says it will be launched “by the end of 2023”.

According to the travel site TTGmedia.com which first revealed the delay, the decision was taken at an EU meeting in Tallinn last week.

It was agreed the May 2023 target “was considered no longer achievable due to delays from the contractors”.

Stakeholders, including airports and port authorities on the northern French coast, should continue to prepare for a target launch date “within the end of 2023”.

“In particular, border crossing points should be fully equipped for the use of the Entry/Exit System by the end of the year,” read a summary of the meeting.

A new more detailed timeline for the rollout is expected to be revealed in March.

The Local had previously reported in November how governments across Europe feared the new checks will cause long delays at borders – particularly at the UK-France border, where the boss of the port of Dover predicted “tailbacks throughout Kent”. 

What is the new EES system?

This doesn’t change anything in terms of the visas or documents required for travel, or the rights of travellers, but it does change how the EU’s and Schengen area’s external borders are policed.

It’s essentially a security upgrade, replacing the current system that relies on border guards with stamps with an electronic swipe in/swipe out system that will register more details such as immigration status.

It is for the EU’s external borders, so doesn’t apply if you are travelling between France and Germany for example, but would apply if you enter any EU or Schengen zone country from a non-EU country eg crossing from the UK to France via Channel Tunnel or flying into Germany from the US.

It will apply when entering all EU member states, apart from Cyprus and Ireland, as well as four non-EU countries in the Schengen Area: Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Travellers will need to scan their passports or other travel document at a self-service kiosk each time they cross an EU external border. It will not apply to foreign residents of EU countries or those with long stay visas.

When non-EU travellers first enter the Schengen/EU area the system will register their name, biometric data, and the date and place of entry and exit. Facial scans and fingerprint data will be retained for three years after initial registration.

The system will digitally track the number of days non-EU citizens spend in the union to ensure people do not overstay the permitted 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area.

Also due to come into effect in 2023 is ETIAS – this will require tourists to register in advance for a visa and pay €7. This is due to launch in November 2023, and the EU has so far not announced any change to this date.

READ MORE: EES and ETIAS – The big changes for travel in Europe in 2023

Member comments

  1. I’m concerned about this as I have found my fingerprints are difficult to recognize. Don’t know why, but I’ve had to be “re-fingerprinted” at the Questura a couple of times. When getting my FBI report in the USA, my fingerprinting exercise took hours.

    This was due to the small, portable readers being unable to confirm my prints time after time after time after time. Expert staff had to be called in and I stood a good chance of having to forego any business associated with fingerprinting.

    This will be – if the equipment isn’t top-notch and the operators skilled – a nightmare. I’m guessing I’m not the only person in the world with prints that are difficult to read. Hope they allow for odd circumstances similar to mine for identifying entrants into the EU.

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For members

IMMIGRATION

Why is Switzerland spending 300 million francs to protect Schengen borders?

From August 1st, 2024, Switzerland will contribute financially to the European effort to strengthen the protection of the Schengen area’s external borders.

Published: 24 July 2024 14:15 CEST
Why is Switzerland spending 300 million francs to protect Schengen borders?

Though Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it does belong to the Schengen area — not only benefitting from the access to Europe’s borderless zone, but also participating in its funding.

Financial support is especially needed in Schengen countries with particularly extensive land and sea borders or major international airports on their territories, because they bear a heavy financial burden of securing the zone’s external borders, for the benefit of all the other members.

How will Switzerland’s 300-million-franc contribution be used?

Over the period of next seven years, it will go toward the programme called Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (BMVl), which is part of the fund that ensures efficient management of EU’s borders.

The EU already allocated 6.24 billion euros to the BMVI for a seven-year period, and 300 million francs is Switzerland’s share.

Specifically, those funds will be used towards improving external border controls, investing in common large-scale IT systems in the area of borders management and visa policy, funding infrastructure and equipment, and deployment of immigration liaison officers, among other tasks.

Why is Switzerland contributing 300 million francs?

The BMVl’s goal is to “improve the protection of the external borders of the Schengen area and, therefore, to increase the effectiveness of border controls and prevent illegal immigration,” the Federal Council said. 

This, along with effective and integrated management of the external borders “is also in Switzerland’s interest.”

Also, Switzerland will likely receive grants from the BMVl of around 50 million francs to be allocated mainly to the establishment of new EU information systems (EES Entry and Exit System, and European Travel Information and Authorization System ETIAS) on its territory.

Furthermore, it is planned to use part of these resources to finance the expansion of the border control infrastructure at Zurich Airport.

Benefits for Switzerland

There is no doubt that Swiss citizens benefit greatly from access to the Schengen zone.

Simply put, it allows anyone who is in Switzerland legally to enjoy hassle-free travel to and from the 26 other Schengen states, visa time limits permitting.

Travellers arriving into Switzerland for the first time from a non-Schengen state like the UK or the US will have to queue up to have their passports checked, but after that they can move freely.

That means Swiss citizens, EU nationals, non-EU international residents in Switzerland, tourists, exchange students or people travelling for business can travel on to another Schengen member state, perhaps neighbouring France or Germany by car or train, without having to show their passports. (Although occasionally checks are brought back.) 

That is a definite ‘plus’ for anyone who travels within Europe. Due to Switzerland having so many land borders with other Schengen countries it would have been hugely problematic not to join.
 

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