EU Council sets out ‘progressive launch’ of landmark EES biometric border management system

The EU Council has set out its approach in launching a new digital border management system, an automated system first agreed to in 2017. The regulation enables EU member states to gradually introduce the Entry/Exit digital border management system (EES) over a period of six months.

The EES is an IT system that will digitally record entries and exits, passport data, fingerprints and face biometrics of non-EU nationals crossing the EU’s external borders. During the transition period member states will continue to manually stamp travel documents. But once rolled out, the EES will replace the manual stamping of passports, registering non-EU nationals who enter an EU member state for a short stay.

“I am very pleased that during the Polish presidency of the EU Council, which focuses on security issues, it was possible to make such significant progress in the control and protection of our external borders,” commented Tomasz Siemoniak, Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration.

“The solution adopted is, on the one hand, flexible and, on the other hand, guarantees the security of migratory movements.”

Siemoniak said the aim is for October to begin the rollout. Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for Migration Nicholas Ioannides also said the EES will begin implementation in October, but that “some time will be needed for all member states to align with [the] new system.”

Once operational EU member states will have real-time access to third-country nationals’ personal data, travel history and information on whether they comply with the authorized period of stay in the Schengen area. The EU claims the EES will “significantly” reduce the likelihood of identity fraud and overstay.

The phased deployment will see member states progressively begin operating the EES and work towards a minimum registration of ten percent of border crossings after the first month. For the first 60 days, member states are allowed to operate the EES without biometric functionalities. After three months, member states are expected to operate the EES with biometric functionalities at a minimum of half of their border crossing points. Full registration of all individuals will be expected by the end of the progressive deployment period.

The performance of the EES central system should be monitored, the EU Council emphasized.

The reason for the progressive deployment was essentially that not all member states were ready to implement the system, but the progressive launch regulation takes into account the “diverse needs” of member states, accommodating those who wish to implement gradually and those who will operate the system from day one.

A series of implementation objectives has been prepared by the EU Agency for the Operational Management of Information Systems (EU-LISA). The position set out by the EU Council still needs to go through the European Parliament with the regulation’s final form to be determined.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  border management  |  digital identity  |  Entry/Exit System (EES)  |  eu-LISA  |  Europe  |  identity verification