The EU is refusing to suspend strict new border controls despite pressure from airports and airlines who have demanded they be put on hold until after summer amid fears of chaos at holiday hotspots.
EU officials admitted the Entry/Exit System (EES), in which most non-EU travellers have to undergo biometric border checks, was “not perfect” but a full suspension was “not needed” and “not possible”.
They said that having the system operating in some countries and not others would lead to even more problems, as travellers entering the Schengen area where controls are in place and leaving where they are not might be at risk of being incorrectly registered as overstaying their 90-day stay – and later refused entry.
An EU official said the system worked without any issues at a large majority of the 1,500 border crossing points, with only 20 recognised as “difficult spots”.
But the EU has vowed to ramp up efforts to resolve the bloc’s new border check system issues, migration chief Magnus Brunner wrote in a letter seen by AFP, after airports and airlines blamed EES for disruption.
