The planned November 10 start date is now no longer anticipated.
Don’t kiss those passport stamps goodbye just yet—the E.U. scheme that would have eliminated the inky souvenirs from visitors’ passports has been delayed past a planned November start date.
The European Union’s planned Entry/Exit System (EES) for travelers entering the Schengen Area (the E.U.’s common customs union and border-control free travel area) was originally scheduled for implementation in November. The system is designed to use biometrics to electronically record entries and exits and would have eliminated the need for stamps in paper passports, although travelers would still require a paper entry document.
E.U. Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told a group of E.U. interior ministers Thursday that the planned November 10 start date was now no longer anticipated, saying that the hope was to begin the program as soon as possible, but no new target date has been shared publicly. She also floated the idea of implementing parts of the EES system, but this would require amendments to the E.U. laws regarding EES, as there is no legal basis for partial implementation.
Johansson also noted in her remarks that Germany, France, and The Netherlands had consistently declared they would not be ready in time to meet the November 10 start date.
Continue Reading Article After Our Video
Recommended Fodor’s Video
This isn’t the first time the system has been delayed. Related to the EES system is the implementation of ETIAS, or the European Travel Information and Authorization System, which is dependent on EES first being implemented. ETIAS is the much-publicized “Schengen Visa” which would require travelers from many countries—including the United States—to first apply for and be approved for an electronic entry authorization in advance of travel. While the ETIAS scheme would levy just a nominal fee for multiple entries and exits over a period of several years, it’s still another process step for US travelers visiting Europe.
Both were originally planned for implementation in 2024, but given the EES delay, likely until next year, it’s unlikely either program will be used at border crossings before 2025. Similarly to the last time a delay was announced, E.U. officials did not give updated timelines for implementation, but as early as late 2023 officials from several E.U. member states indicated they did not believe their own countries would be ready to operate the system until 2025 at the earliest.
Details are short on the EES/ETIAS system, but it ultimately means U.S. passport holders under a fully operational system would go through a process similar to getting Global Entry today. Apply, pay a fee, have fingerprints and eye scans completed at a border crossing, then enjoy smoother border crossings in the future.
Of particular concern with implementation is the land crossing between the United Kingdom and the Schengen Area at the Port of Dover, where some 68,000 coaches and 1.6 million cars cross the E.U. border each year. The port has been in the process of building facilities that would allow drivers and passengers to give their biometric details as part of EES without getting out of their vehicles. Officials had forecasted dire scenarios—such as 14 hour waits to cross the border at Dover, slowing both passenger traffic and freight trucks entering and exiting the U.K.—should the program be implemented before full review and testing could be completed.
The EES will eventually affect U.S. travelers bound for most of Europe, including the non-E.U. member states of Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland. The United Kingdom, which is not an E.U. member, Ireland (an E.U. member but not part of the Schengen Area because of its open border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K.), and the non-E.U. countries on the Balkan peninsula will not be affected, unless US travelers plan to transit the Schengen Area en route.
