European Commission confirms October 12 starts date for EES

The European Commission said October 12 is the official start date for the phased introduction of its new automated border control system.

The date had been widely reported a fortnight ago but was officially confirmed on Friday.

The Entry Exit System [EES] will require non-EU nationals to register their biometric data, which will be checked each time they cross into the Schengen area.

The system will be implemented at all the EU’s external borders and prior to the June 11 political agreement on a UK/EU Gibraltar treaty, the fear had been it would collapse flow at the border.

The agreement will lead to a treaty that will remove immigration controls at the land border, transferring Schengen checks to the airport instead.

With the treaty set to be finalised by October, that means that the EES is unlikely to be implemented at the land frontier prior to immigration controls being removed, though the final decision on that will be Spain’s.

The phased approach to implementation of the EES means Spain has six months to roll the system out from October 12.

“European countries using the Entry Exit System will introduce it gradually at their external borders,” the European Commission said.

“This means that data collection will be gradually introduced at border crossing points with full implementation by April 10, 2026.”

EU countries will introduce the different components of the EES in phases, including the collection of biometric data such as facial images and fingerprints.

“This means that travellers’ biometric data might not be collected at every border crossing point right away, and their personal information may not be registered in the system,” the Commission said.

“Passports will continue to be stamped as usual.”

Last month, a Commission spokesperson told the Chronicle the EES would be deployed “progressively” by the EU’s 29 Member States over a period of six months.

“It is for Spain to decide how to roll out the EES at the external borders in line with the provisions of the applicable legal framework,” the spokesperson said.