Overview
- Brussels has given at least nine countries permission to delay full enforcement of the Entry/Exit System at some crossing points to ease queues and keep passengers moving.
- The countries granted flexibility include Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland, with some governments describing the pause as open‑ended.
- The Commission reiterated that legal rules for EES have not changed, published usage figures showing more than 192 million recorded entries and exits and reported over 66,000 refusals including about 1,700 concerning individuals.
- Border checks produced long airport queues and missed flights this summer because kiosks, fingerprint scanners and local IT struggled under peak demand and staffing shortages.
- The Commission asked affected states to step up technical, organisational and communication measures by the end of the year and signalled possible targeted operational help such as extra Frontex officers.