The much-delayed entry-exit system (EES) has been postponed – and possibly watered down – just eight weeks after the EU Home Affairs commissioner declared it would come into force on 10 November.
Ylva Johansson said the ambitious Schengen Area border plan, requiring “third-country nationals” – including British visitors – to provide fingerprints and facial biometrics on entry, would launch at every frontier post from the Arctic to the Aegean.
But in yet another blow for the troubled digital border project, it now appears a pilot programme is expected to begin some time in 2025, and a subtle change of wording from the European Commission suggests the demand for fingerprints may be quietly dropped.
France, Germany and the Netherlands had expressed alarm at plans to go ahead with a system that had not been tested on “live” border crossings.
The travel industry, which has invested hundreds of millions of pounds preparing for the launch, is relieved that possible chaos has been averted – but furious that the decision has come so late.
A summary of proceedings of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council on 10 October revealed: “To ensure a smooth transition, the Commission outlined plans to roll out the EES in a phased manner.
“The details of this approach will be established in the coming weeks.”
It is now expected that a pilot scheme, perhaps involving a few medium-sized airports, ports and land frontiers, will begin at some point in 2025 – possibly as late as the autumn. But new legislation is required, because it was never envisaged that there would be anything except a “big bang” approach with the system implemented everywhere from day one.
One senior UK travel industry source told The Independent: “It will almost certainly be well into 2025 before there is any chance of it having a significant effect on British travellers.”
In addition, the system appears to have been watered down. The wording has been subtly altered to indicate that fingerprint and facial biometrics are alternatives rather than both mandatory.
The Commission says the plan is now to “scan the fingerprints or take a photo of those crossing the border for the first time”.
Previously the plan was to demand both fingerprints and facial biometrics from every traveller.
Euronews reported remarks made by Ms Johansson after the meeting, in which she said: “10 November is no longer on the table.
“I hope we can start as soon as possible but there’s no new timeline so far. This also depends on the legal assessment that we will do and we’re working on it right now.”
She talked of “concerns when it comes to the resilience of the system” and said the approach would now be “a little step by step going into the system, not a big bang of all border crossing points at the same time.”
The news broke as the Port of Dover began work on a huge new canopy designed to allow motorists to provide fingerprints and facial biometrics without impeding the flow of vehicles into the main departure point for ferries to Europe.
Frontier checks between Dover and northern France are “juxtaposed”, with French border officials checking passports on British soil. The same applies at the Folkestone Eurotunnel terminal and London St Pancras International.
Over £100m has been spent in the UK preparing for the start of the system on 10 November.
Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover declined to comment to The Independent.
The UK travel industry gave the news a guarded welcome. Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “The confirmed delay by the EU of the infamous EES launch will inevitably give the travel industry a huge sigh of relief as there was significant concern at the preparedness throughout the EU bloc that would inevitably have caused delay and setbacks for so many non-EU passport holder at the borders.”
Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at Abta, the travel association, said: “It is good to know the full implementation of EES is no longer expected in November, as the industry had been left in limbo waiting for news on when it will start.
“We do still need urgent confirmation and clarification on the next steps of EES; it’s difficult to talk to a customer about a new system without knowing if it will actually be in place for their trip.”
The Etias “euro-visa” scheme, which relies on EES working well, has also been indefinitely postponed.
Work on EES and Etias began in 2014 while the UK was a member of the European Union. After Brexit, Boris Johnson’s government negotiated for British travellers to be treated as third-country nationals to which the systems would apply.