Commission mulls Spanish proposal for EES flexibility at border 

The Spanish Government has sent the European Commission a proposal to make the rollout of the EU’s new automated border control system at the Gibraltar border point more flexible pending provisional implementation of the UK/EU treaty. 

The Entry/Exit System. which requires non-EU travellers to register and undergo biometric checks when crossing a Schengen border, is due to come into full operation on Friday after a year-long phased rollout. 

The Gibraltar government has said it has received assurances that Gibraltar residents will be exempted from EES checks in the interim period to July 15, the new date that the treaty is expected to enter provisional implementation.  

But there has not yet been formal confirmation that this is the case, raising some concern and uncertainty for those crossing the border.  

“The Commission received the letter from the Spanish Government on the EU-UK Agreement on Gibraltar and the EES,” a Commission spokesperson told the Chronicle on Wednesday.  

“The Commission will respond in due course.” 

“All Member States, including Spain, have to deploy the EES at all their border crossing points as of 10 April.” 

“Legal provisions are clear on this, including about the exceptions from registration in the EES.” 

All EU countries must technically have EES in place by April 10 but the Commission has confirmed that states can partially suspend or ease EES checks for up to 90 days after that date, with a possible 60‑day extension, to manage congestion at busy border crossings. 

This “pause” is intended as a temporary managerial tool, not a permanent derogation, and countries remain obliged to complete full implementation and must bring all external‑border points into the system by the end of the flexibility period, meaning early September. 

Spain was already implementing the new system this week and while Gibraltar residents were being allowed through without having to undergo EES controls, at times long queues built up at the border while others waited to be checked. 

The treaty, once provisionally implemented, will mean Schengen controls will be conducted on arrival at the airport and land immigration controls at the border will be removed. 

Provisional infrastructure is already being put in place inside Gibraltar’s air terminal and on the adjacent Spanish side to allow the Schengen controls to be conducted from a shared facility spanning both sides of the border. 

“The future EU-UK agreement in respect of Gibraltar foresees that residents in Gibraltar will be exempted from the EES, once the agreement is in place,” the Commission spokesperson added. 

“The EU and the UK, are currently going through their internal procedures leading to the signature and provisional application of the Agreement as of 15 July.” 

“In view of the upcoming provisional application of this agreement, preparatory work is ongoing in Spain to deploy the EES at Gibraltar Airport and to ensure that border checks are fully compliant with the Schengen Borders Code.” 

“The Commission supports Spain in this process.” 

The spokesperson said the EES was about “ensuring the security of Europeans”. 

In the past five months, more than 45 million entries and exits have been registered and there have been over 24,000 refusals of entry, of which over 600 persons were assessed to be security threats to the bloc. 

With the system operating well, it takes only 70 seconds to register an entry or exit, the spokesperson said, adding that the majority of EU member states were already registering over 75% of border crossings.   

“Despite the agreed timeline, a few member states are encountering technical difficulties,” the spokesperson acknowledged. 

“The Commission is in close contact with these member states and also sharing best practices from member states where the system is working well.”