Overview
- The agency disclosed in its annual accounts that it filed a civil lawsuit in Estonia on December 22, 2025 against IBM, Atos and Leonardo over repeated delivery delays in the Entry/Exit System development.
- EU‑Lisa says the legal action targets development‑phase failures and does not affect the live EES, which the agency describes as operational across the 29‑country Schengen area.
- The EES records fingerprints and photos of non‑EU travellers to spot overstayers and identity fraud, but its rollout from October 2025 was marked by hardware and software faults that caused long airport queues and missed flights this year.
- The dispute traces to a 2019 six‑year contract whose value rose as delays pushed up costs and forced EU‑Lisa to reallocate budget; the consortium contested fines and deadlines, citing factors such as the COVID‑19 pandemic.
- Separately, the European Anti‑Fraud Office found sufficient elements to press further scrutiny of procurement and security concerns, a review that could affect contractual liability and future governance of EU border IT projects.