EU urged to tell authorities to stand down EES controls if needed to avert delays at airports and border crossings
Travel industry leaders have called on the European Commission to tell all border authorities to stand down the new entry-exit system (EES) if needed, as fears increase of summer disruption.
European airports have warned of a potentially “disastrous” experience for passengers and huge queues unless the new biometric controls for foreign visitors are relaxed.
Most British holidaymakers to Europe will need to be fingerprinted, photographed and registered, and UK firms have reported wide divergence in how the rules have been applied since the soft launch of the scheme in October.
The staggered start has already seen long queues at some European airports, despite provisions for border officers to relax the requirements. Currently, states only need register a minimum 35% of travellers, but in theory all passengers are due to complete the EES registration from 10 April.
