EU keeps biometric Entry/Exit System despite airport queue problems

The European Union has rejected calls from airports, airlines and IATA to suspend the new Entry/Exit System (EES) that records fingerprints and facial images of non‑EU travelers. Officials acknowledge that the system is not perfect and that about 20 of the roughly 1,500 border points – in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium and other popular gateway airports – are experiencing severe congestion, with waiting times up to five hours.

EU leaders stress that a full halt is neither necessary nor possible ahead of the summer tourism peak. National border authorities may temporarily suspend the collection of biometric data at heavily pressured locations, but overall border checks will continue. To ease pressure, additional staff have been deployed in Lisbon and Brussels, a mobile‑app pre‑registration pilot is under test in Sweden and Portugal, and Frontex is ready to send extra personnel.

Since the system’s full rollout in October 2025, EU records show about 110 million trips through the Schengen area, roughly 44 500 people denied entry, about 1 000 identified as security risks and 300 caught with forged documents.