The EU is still aiming to implement its new system for automated immigration checks as from November, the European Commission confirmed on Monday, despite recent reports suggesting the launch may be delayed.
The new Entry/Exit System is due to come into operation on November 10 – with a contingency for a later November 17 start date - but there were reports last week that the date could slip over concerns that some countries were not ready.
The Guardian reported that full implementation of the EES at ports and airports was expected to be delayed again amid concern over congestion and long queues.
The system is also due to be implemented at Spain’s border with Gibraltar, raising fears of serious disruption unless a UK/EU treaty that guarantee border fluidity can be agreed before then.
The November 10 target date was announced last August by Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, during a visit to the headquarters of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice, better known as eu-LISA.
And while that specific date may yet be missed, the EU still hopes to have the EES system up and running some time in November, with the EU’s separate ETIAS travel authorisation system for visa-exempt travellers to follow early in 2025.
“The Commission is working with the Member States and eu-LISA towards the target date of November this year for the Entry/Exit System, and ETIAS is foreseen to be ready to enter into operation in Spring 2025,” a Commission spokesperson told the Chronicle on Monday.
“The Commission remains in close contact with Member States supporting them to be ready to operate.”
The EES, together with the ETIAS as from next year, would mean much tighter controls on non-EU nationals – including people from Gibraltar – when entering the Schengen zone.
It would operate at all Schengen external borders, including at Gibraltar’s land frontier with Spain as well as EU ports and airports.
Under the EES, non-EU nationals entering the bloc from a non-EU country – including Gibraltar – would first need to register fingerprints and a facial scan with their passport details.
Once travellers have provided their biometric and passport information, that registration will be valid for three years.
Those details would then be used to conduct immigration checks every time travellers enter the Schengen area, irrespective of the length of their stay. This will replace passport-stamping.
The EES collects all personal data listed in a person’s travel document, as well as a facial image and fingerprints, and the date and place of entry or exit from and EU country.
Immigration authorities in European countries will use the EES to verify a person’s identity and understand whether they should be allowed to enter or stay in the EU. The data is also accessible by European law enforcement agencies.
The EES will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which the EU says is time consuming and does not provide reliable data on border crossings or systematic detection of “over-stayers”, meaning travellers who have exceeded the maximum duration of their authorised stay.
Under Schengen rules, non-EU citizens including British nationals after Brexit can only stay in the EU 90 days in any 180-day period before requiring a visa.
A non-EU national who overstays their 90 days can be removed from the territory, fined or detained, and even prevented from re-entering the EU in future.
The introduction of the EES will be a first step toward the EU’s new ETIAS framework, under which visa-exempt non-EU nationals will require authorisation prior to travelling to the Schengen zone.
British nationals will not require a visa to travel to EU countries but will have to register for authorisation from ETIAS and pay seven euros for a three-year visa waiver, much like the US ESTA system that has been in place for some years.
Ahead of the entry into force of the EES system, Spain has already installed e-gates and registration machines for pedestrians on its side of the Gibraltar border, although they have not been switched on yet.
It is not yet clear how Spain will implement the automated checks in practice, although the system allows for the use of facial recognition cameras that should in theory reduce delays once people are registered.
In a technical notice last July, the Gibraltar Government said it expects that initial registration on the new EES system “is likely to cause border delays”, though facial recognition technology should subsequently ease the flow.
“However, delays crossing the border remain a possibility if facial recognition facilities are not installed,” it said at the time.
The Gibraltar Government also said it would reciprocate any measures put in place on the Spanish side of the border, something which has caused concern too for EU cross-border workers resident in Spain.
Under interim measures pending the outcome of treaty negotiations, Spanish immigration officials have allowed Gibraltar Red ID card holders to enter Spain without the need to have their passports stamped.
But that will likely change if the EES system comes into operation prior to a treaty being agreed.
In the technical notice, the Gibraltar Government reminded people that under Schengen rules, all non-EU Nationals including Gibraltarians and other British citizens resident in Gibraltar would need to satisfy the Schengen authorities that they meet the entry conditions when entering Spain or any other Schengen state.
Confirmation that the EU is still hoping to launch the EES in November comes just days after the latest political negotiating round for a UK/EU treaty on Gibraltar.
The meeting brought together EU Commissioner and chief negotiator Maroš Šefčovič, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares, and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, as well as their respective negotiating teams.
In a joint statement after the meeting, the four parties signalled “further progress” on mobility for people and goods, vowing to intensify their work in the coming weeks to finally secure a deal three years in the making.
“The meeting reaffirmed their shared commitment to concluding an EU-UK Agreement to bring confidence, legal certainty, and stability to the people of the whole region, while safeguarding all parties' legal positions,” the statement said.
“They all agreed to remain in constant contact, with teams to work closely and intensively on outstanding areas.”
In an interview with El Pais ahead of that meeting, Mr Albares acknowledged the potential impact of the EES at Spain’s border with Gibraltar.
“All the more reason to have this agreement as soon as possible,” he said at the time.
Asked if it could be the case that the automated systems might not be switched on at the border, he added:
“Hopefully.”
Mr Albares is due to meet with mayors from the Campo de Gibraltar in Madrid on October 9 to brief them on the latest developments in the treaty negotiation.