EU’s digital border system to be phased in from October

The EU’s new digital border system will be phased in as from October this year, with plans for a staggered deployment agreed by EU Home Affairs ministers earlier this month.

The original plan had been for a ‘big bang’ rollout of the Entry/Exit System (EES) last November at all external EU borders, including ports and airports.

But many countries were not ready and the plans were delayed amid fears of chaos at immigration controls across the EU.

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 guarantees border fluidity can be agreed before then.

The delay to implementation last year offered a respite to negotiators trying to agree a treaty for Gibraltar’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc.

Now, with the treaty talks said to be in their final stages, the new EES launch date will once again focus minds.

The intention is to phase the new system in as from October, though an exact start date has yet to be set.

Earlier this month, the European Council agreed its position on a regulation that will allow EU member states to gradually introduce the Entry/Exist System over a period of six months.

The council’s position is the basis for negotiations with the European Parliament, which is still in the process of agreeing its own position.

The EES is an IT system that will digitally record entries and exits, data from passports, fingerprints and facial images of non-EU nationals travelling for short stays in an EU member state.

Non-EU nationals entering the bloc from a non-EU country – including Gibraltar – would need to register fingerprints and a photograph with their passport details.

Once travellers have given their fingerprints and details, that registration will be valid for three years.

Those details would then be used to conduct biometric checks – meaning fingerprint and facial scans – every time travellers enter the Schengen area, irrespective of the length of their stay. This will replace passport-stamping.

Introduction of the EES will likely mean an end to interim measures applied to Gibraltar Red ID card holders while treaty negotiations are under way.

It would also limit Gibraltar red ID card holders, who have so far been exempted from normal Schengen controls, to no more than 90 days in any 180-day period inside the Schengen zone.

Under the proposed phased deployment of the new system, EU member states will progressively start operating the EES and work towards a minimum registration of 10% of border crossings after the first month.

For the first 60 days, member states may operate the EES without biometric functionalities.

After three months, member states should operate the EES – with biometric checks – at a minimum of half of their border crossing points.

EU countries should reach full registration of all individuals by the end of the period of the progressive start of EES operation.

Until the end of the transition period, member states will also continue to manually stamp travel documents.

The European Council also agreed to launch its European Travel and Information Authorisation System (ETIAS) in the last quarter of 2026, some six months after the EES is fully operational across the EU.

Once it is in place, ETIAS will require non-EU nationals to apply online and obtain approval before travel to EU countries.

British nationals, including those resident in Gibraltar, 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.