The European Union’s Entry/Exit System became fully operational across all 29 Schengen Area countries today, completing a six-month progressive rollout that began on October 12, 2025, and marking the end of more than four years of delays since the system’s original 2022 target launch date.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs reported that the system registered more than 45 million border crossings, refused entry to approximately 24,000 individuals primarily for fraudulent documents or invalid visit justifications, and flagged more than 600 individuals as high-risk security threats during the six-month phased rollout period – cumulative figures from operations beginning October 2025 through full mandatory deployment today.
EES replaces manual passport stamping with digital biometric registration for non-EU nationals entering the Schengen Area on short-stay visas. The system captures facial images and fingerprints at external Schengen borders and cross-references them against existing records to detect identity fraud, overstay violations, and travelers previously refused entry. The Commission highlighted a case from Romania in which a traveler using two separate identities and documents was identified through biometric comparison as having been denied Schengen entry on three prior occasions, a detection that manual processing would not have caught.
Launch day performance on April 10 was mixed. Hamburg, Copenhagen, and several southern European airports including Seville and Barcelona reported smooth processing, with some travelers completing EES registration in under two minutes. Geneva and Frankfurt were less orderly: travelers at Geneva reported kiosk failures and officers falling back to manual passport stamps, while UK sports presenter Jacqui Oatley described “shocking queues” for British travelers at Frankfurt. Verona airport reportedly had all EES machines covered and non-operational. European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert noted member states retain flexibility to partially suspend EES operations for up to 90 days, with a possible 60-day extension, to manage queues during the summer travel peak.
The system launched to widespread technical failures in October 2025, with some border crossings reporting waits exceeding ten hours in the opening days of the progressive rollout. The EU had confirmed a phased rollout culminating April 10, 2026 when it set the October start date last July, establishing the six-month transition framework now concluded. Estonia was the first country to activate the system on October 12, leading a progressive deployment that spread across the remaining member states.
The European Parliament approved the rollout with 572 votes in favour in July 2025, clearing the final legislative hurdle before the October launch began. Also taking effect today: carriers are now required to electronically verify passenger travel authorization via the eu-LISA carrier interface prior to departure for Schengen-bound flights, extending eligibility verification upstream from border authorities to airlines and transport operators.
Sources: European Commission, DG Migration and Home Affairs
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By Ji-seo Kim
