Holidaymakers can breathe a sigh of relief after the EU hit the pause button on its new Entry/Exit System (EES) that swaps passports with biometrics.
“When there are situations of exceptionally high pressure on a certain border crossing point, there is the possibility to suspend temporarily the registration of the biometrics,” EU commission spokesperson Markus Lammert told reporters on Monday (6 July).
Instead of manual passport stamps at immigration, travellers are now to be directed to an immigration booth or a kiosk at the border entry point, where their passport details and biometric data such as a facial image and fingerprints, will be recorded, though children under 12 will not have to provide fingerprints.
The commission says that the EES will reduce the average time spent at passport control from 90 seconds to 20 seconds per person.
The new system is supposed to make it easier to identify non-EU travellers who have entered the EU legally but then overstayed their short-stay visa or sought to work in the EU.
