France praises EES performance despite congestion across EU travel hubs 

France has defended the rollout of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), even as airport chiefs across Europe urge Brussels to suspend the scheme over the summer due to severe congestion.

The French Ministry of the Interior told The Independent that EES has “already proven its worth” since it launched on 12 October 2025. According to the ministry, the system has logged more than 110 million border crossings and issued over 44,000 entry refusals, including over 1,100 cases involving individuals deemed security threats.

“These figures demonstrate that EES effectively protects European citizens on a daily basis,” a spokesperson said.

The EES’ biometric checks are intended to strengthen security and detect overstays, but the end of the phased rollout in April has brought long queues at several European airports.

France insists it has avoided major disruption. The ministry said the country has taken a “reasonable and pragmatic” approach, using flexibility in EU rules to maintain smooth passenger flows. In late June, French authorities convened airport, port and rail operators to reassure them about the deployment strategy.

Paris joined Germany, Italy and six other member states in asking the European Commission to extend temporary emergency safeguards beyond the current September 6 deadline. France has hired 350 additional staff to support EES operations and is developing a remote pre‑registration app to reduce processing times.

“Everything is being done to limit congestion related to EES,” the ministry said, adding that kiosk use would increase gradually over the summer.

Airport and airline leaders still frazzled over EES, Spain installs more kiosks

Elsewhere in Europe, airport leaders say the system is slowing border checks significantly.

Ivan Bassato, chief aviation officer at Rome Fiumicino airport, told the BBC that processing times for UK travellers have nearly tripled – from seven to around 20 minutes – despite improvements from new biometric kiosks. He warned that waits of one to two hours were “absolutely not okay” and called for urgent fixes.

Wizz Air UK has advised passengers to arrive three hours before flights due to expected delays, telling travellers to prepare for long queues on arrival. The EU has resisted calls to suspend the EES even as it admits “20 difficult spots.”

Spain plans to install additional EES kiosks at Gibraltar Airport after technical problems disrupted the system on its first day of operation. Travellers faced delays when several kiosks malfunctioned during the launch, forcing border officers to revert to manual processing.

Spanish authorities said the glitches were caused by software and connectivity issues and confirmed that more kiosks will be deployed to increase capacity and reduce queues. The government also said technicians are working to stabilize the system and ensure smoother processing for non‑EU passengers.

Officials described the problems as expected teething issues and said operations have since improved.

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  biometrics  |  Entry/Exit System (EES)  |  Europe  |  France  |  passenger processing