The travel chaos surrounding the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) could take as long as two years to resolve, according to an official at border management firm Frontex who blamed the way biometric data is being registered for the delays and disruption seen across the bloc since the system’s April rollout.
Speaking at an event hosted by UK travel association ABTA in London, Uku Särekanno, deputy executive director at Frontex, said: “We expect the situation will stabilise in one or two years because the most challenging part is the first enrolment.”
Intended to improve the way immigration is tracked and monitored, the Entry/Exit System requires third-country nationals entering the Schengen-plus zone to provide a facial image and fingerprints as well as passport details and trip information when they first cross the border into the bloc. This data is stored digitally for up to three years or until the passport expires, meaning that on subsequent entries, visitors should be automatically recognised and not have to repeat the process.
But some travellers have found they have been asked to re-register details on repeat entries, while others have been left unsure about how much of the process they have completed, due to the way the EES requirements are being abandoned at some border checkpoints.
French authorities at the UK Port of Dover temporarily paused the registration process in May, and Greece announced that it too would be suspending the EES processes for British tourists who represent an important source market for Greek travel stakeholders. Meanwhile, visitors entering Europe at Lisbon Airport, where extra police and the national guard have had to be deployed to control crowd flow, told Travel Tomorrow they have no idea whether they will be expected to re-do their EES registration, after the system appeared to “go down” as they tried to complete the necessary steps.
The discretion to suspend EES processes will not be extended beyond a previously announced cut-off date in September, Särekanno confirmed, denouncing the inconsistencies in the way EES is being implemented and emphasising how hard border teams are working: “We’re trying to ensure there’s a coherent approach to the border procedures. We’re putting in a lot of effort to ensure practices are harmonised.”
ABTA’s chief executive called Särekanno’s comments and estimate of a two-year lead-in period, “very painful” while Airlines UK chief Tim Alderslade said, “I think we’ve got some work to do.”
