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The European Union (EU) has once again delayed the implementation of its new digital Entry/Exit System (EES), which has caused chaos at airports, for nine major countries.
According to the British daily The Times on the 12th (local time), the European Commission has granted additional implementation delays to countries that raised issues with the introduction of the EES, including France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece, Malta, and Switzerland.
The EES is a system that replaces passport stamping by border guards with digital registration, such as fingerprint verification and facial photography, when non-EU nationals make short-term visits to 29 countries in Europe's Schengen area.
Introduced in early October of last year with the aim of strengthening border security and preventing illegal immigration, it entered full implementation in April of this year following a phased expansion of its scope.
However, ahead of the summer vacation season, the aviation industry raised concerns that the registration of biometric information could significantly increase border control wait times.
In response, the EU permitted a temporary exemption allowing the suspension of EES registration for a certain period and a switch back to traditional manual screening methods in cases of severe congestion.
According to data from travel data analytics firm "Qsensors," waiting times at major European hub airports, such as Frankfurt Airport in Germany, increased by up to two times in July of this year.
This was because the EES system failed to operate smoothly due to technical glitches and hardware issues.
When the EES system crashes, border guards must manually stamp passports, and since some airports have already downsized their border control checkpoints, long queues are inevitable.
The exemption originally granted by the EU expired on the 6th of this month.
Nevertheless, the nine countries, including France, sent a joint letter to the European Commission last July, requesting an extension of the exemption and stating, "The EU is not yet ready to fully implement the new border control system."
The EU subsequently granted the exemptions to these countries, and no separate deadline appears to have been set, according to The Times.
Gwendoline Cazenave, CEO of Eurostar, which connects major European countries by rail, said in an interview with The Sunday Times following a meeting with French Interior Ministry officials earlier this month, "The key is maintaining smooth border movement, and they [the EU] know that the fluidity of the borders must be maintained."
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the EU commissioner-designate for transport who oversees EES negotiations with non-EU countries, reportedly gave private assurances to British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander earlier this summer that the EES would not be strictly enforced even after the EU's initial grace period of September 6.
The European Commission declined to comment on The Times' request for verification.
The EU's latest retreat is seen as being influenced by fierce backlash and pressure from the aviation and maritime industries.
"Ryanair," Europe's largest low-cost airline, has urged the EU to extend the suspension of the EES until April of next year.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) also warned that there would be severe repercussions if the EU refused to change its stance.
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