How Spain and Portugal could follow Greece in suspending EES checks

The EES system now requires non-EU citizens, including British nationals, to have fingerprints registered and a facial scan taken to enter the Schengen Area’s 29 countries.

Once processed the first time, passengers’ EES details are valid for three years, but travellers have reported having to repeat the checks despite already queuing for hours to go through them.

The European Commission insists the system, which tracks non-EU nationals to make sure they don’t stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period in Schengen countries, has been working “very well” in the “overwhelming majority” of member states since its full launch on 10 April.

A Brussels spokesperson added that registering a traveller takes on average only 70 seconds.

But ACI Europe, a body representing over 600 airports, warned this month passengers were facing delays of up to three hours during peak travel periods and said “major concerns are now a reality”, with some passengers missing flights due to prolonged border processing times.

Here’s the measures being taken across Europe to manage the queues.

Spain

Passengers arriving in Spain have reported being stuck in long queues since EES was incrementally introduced from last year, with delays reported at popular holiday destinations like Malaga, Alicante and Lanzarote.

The Canary Islands’ Popular Party (PP) is among those who have called for the Spanish government to suspend EES with PP tourism spokesperson David Morales lamenting images of “British tourists, our main source market, crammed into the halls of our airports and even queuing in the sun”.

Morales said the images of such lengthy lines were “typical of a Third World country”.

However, a spokesperson for Spain’s interior ministry insisted the roll-out of EES had been “positive” so far adding there had been “no relevant incidents”.

Spain’s interior ministry has not ruled out a full suspension of the border checks, however.

“EES border control system has been fully operational in Spain since April 10th and is being implemented as initially planned,” a spokesperson added.

Italy

A border officer at Milan Malpensa Airport and provincial secretary of Italy’s SAP police union says the full roll-out of fingerprint and facial scans from EES since 10 April has led to three-hour queues and hundreds of passengers missing flights.

Forecasts for the peak summer holiday travel period are “worrying”, said Cristian Sternativo, adding that police are expecting queues of more than four hours at major airports during July and August.

Border police at Milan and other airports have temporarily paused the EES checks to avoid passengers missing their flights as queues build up, a provision allowed by the EU until September.

The SAP has described queues at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport that spilled outside the terminal building and of a “risk of system collapse” at airports across the country, with EES delays at holiday hotspots including Pisa, Verona and Milan Linate.

The Italian airport association Assaeroporti has called for EU member states to be able to completely suspend the checks when waiting times “compromise the regularity of airport operations”.

Greece

Greece has said British passport holders will not be subject to biometric checks at its airports.

This is despite EES rules only allowing for a temporary rather than a permanent postponement and not for the suspension of rules for specific nationalities.

The UK Foreign Office advises that Greek authorities have indicated that they will not collect EES biometric data for UK travellers.

Chris Wright, the managing director of tour operator Sunvil Group, said: “I passed through four airports [in Greece] last week and UK passengers were moving through dedicated queues without biometric checks and without delay.”

Portugal

In January, Portugal suspended EES for three months after chaotic scenes at Lisbon airport that left passengers stuck in queues of six hours.

To help, the Portuguese government said it would increase by 30 per cent the capacity of electronic and physical equipment for controlling external borders.

There would also be an increase in border police carrying out EES checks, with Portuguese media reporting another 500 offices are being trained.

Self-service EES kiosks have been installed at airports, while Portugal is one of only two countries – the other being Sweden – that has adopted an app designed to help travellers save time by registering details before travelling.

Since the full roll-out on 10 April, Portugal is among the countries that have also temporarily suspended EES during busy periods at airports including Lisbon, Faro and Porto.

France

An official from the main body representing French airports has told The i Paper that EES kiosks at main hubs in France are also currently not working due to technical issues, with border police having to manually carry out the fingerprint and facial scans required at booths.

Nicolas Paulissen, general delegate of the Union des Aéroports Français (UAF), said French airports had also been suspending EES checks temporarily as queues built up to prevent massive tailbacks.

Paulissen, whose body represents 173 airports, said the current situation with EES was “difficult” with a technological problem impacting pre-registration kiosks at main airports not likely to be fixed before June.

Instead, French border police – the Police Aux Frontières (PAF) – are manually carrying out the fingerprint and facial scans on passengers which is adding to processing times.

But he said there are fears logjams could cause passengers to miss flights this summer – and of concerns there is “no plan B” after September when a grace period that allows EES to be temporarily lifted ends.

Netherlands

The Netherlands is home to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of the busiest in Europe.

A spokesperson for the Dutch border police, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, told The i Paper there were no plans to fully suspend EES.

The temporary relaxation of checks was occurring only in “very exceptional circumstances”, a police spokesperson said.

Additional measures to help manage passenger flow at Dutch airports includes the deployment of extra staff, such as “floor walkers”, to guide passengers and ensure they are directed to the correct queues.

Belgium

Just before the full 10 April EES roll-out, Belgium announced it would postpone the introduction of biometric data registration under EES.

The announcement came after long delays at Brussels airport with interior minister Bernard Quintin admitting wait times had become “unacceptable”.

This week, opposition MP Michael Freilich shared a video showing long non-Schengen queues at Brussels and said the ongoing problems were harming business and tourism, citing a lack of e-gates for EU members and police understaffing.

“People from the UK, they tell me the passport control is twice as long as my flight,” he told The i Paper.

Introducing EES checks when queues were already so long would be a “disaster upon a disaster” he added.

“It’s going to be horrible. You can’t have wait times of six hours in airports. Now it’s really two to three hours. But imagine it goes to six hours, then that’s the end. The airport will shut down.”