Von der Leyen admits 'technical problems' with new EU airport border checks

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged on Friday that the EU's new digital Entry/Exit System (EES) is experiencing 'technical problems.' Speaking at a press conference in Cork, Ireland, she said the Commission is working with member states to resolve the issues.

The problems have become more acute as air traffic surges during the peak summer travel season. Airports and airlines blame the system – which requires non-EU travelers to register biometric data – for hours-long queues, operational disruptions and missed connecting flights.

Previously, the Commission had downplayed the disruption. Spokesperson Markus Lammert said Wednesday that the impact was limited in most EU airports, and the Commission earlier stated that registration typically takes about 70 seconds. However, the aviation industry paints a different picture. In an open letter to von der Leyen on Wednesday, airport lobby ACI Europe and airline groups IATA and Airlines for Europe reported that waiting times at border control have reached up to five hours during peak periods. They urged more flexibility for countries to 'completely suspend EES' if needed, at least throughout July and August.

EES requires travelers from non-EU countries such as the UK and the US to register fingerprints and a facial image on their first short-stay entry, replacing passport stamps with a digital record to combat overstays and fraudulent documents. Registration can be sped up via self-service kiosks or dedicated apps, but when the system became mandatory on April 10, border officers at major hubs were still manually entering data. Only Sweden and Portugal have activated the apps. Several airports and ports have temporarily suspended biometric collection to ease congestion.

Von der Leyen stressed that EES 'did not change the legal frame about rules of entering and exiting the EU; it just creates transparency about abiding to the rules.' The Commission defends the system's security benefits: from its launch last October to April, over 700 individuals were identified as security risks, a figure that has since risen to approximately 1,000, according to Irish Home Affairs Minister Jim O’Callaghan, who noted that about 110 million passengers have passed through EES checks. 'It is effective in terms of protecting European Union security,' O’Callaghan said.