The European Commission has recently confirmed that the new Entry/Exit System (EES), an automated system for registering travellers from the UK and other non-EU countries each time they cross an EU external border, will go live on 10 November 2024.
Its introduction had been delayed on several occasions with the most recent postponement following a reported request from President Macron to wait until after the Paris Olympics.
The European Commission has said that the system will apply when entering 25 EU countries (all member states apart from Cyprus and Ireland) and four non-EU countries (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein) that are part of the border-free Schengen area.
The system will operate at the Port of Dover and Eurostar and Eurotunnel terminals in the UK, but concerns were recently expressed by council leaders in Kent about the likely impact on the UK when the EU introduces the EES. When the House of Lords conducted an inquiry into the system earlier this year, it also heard concerns from operators of services about the impact of the EES and its potential to increase delays at border checkpoints. The logistics of operating the EES for travellers in vehicles passing through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone are seen as particularly challenging
It is likely that non-EU/Schengen citizens who do not require a visa to enter the EU will have their fingerprints and facial images taken the first time they cross a border into the EU, once the new system is in operation.
This data will normally be erased from the system three years after the last trip to a country using the EES system, for data protection reasons. Nationals of countries requiring a visa to enter the EU will not have their fingerprints taken by EES as they will already have provided fingerprints as part of their visa application.
