eu-LISA Head Offers Update on Biometric Border System ‘Launching Nov 2024’

Another European Union official has offered an update on the bloc’s forthcoming biometric border control system.

Marili Männik, the interim Executive Director of eu-LISA, delivered remarks to the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee in Brussels on the agency’s work in supporting the EU’s justice and home affairs this week. This was her first address to the committee since assuming her role.

Männik emphasized eu-LISA’s crucial role as the “digital heart of Schengen,” managing major EU information systems, including the Schengen Information System (SIS), Visa Information System (VIS), Eurodac, and e-CODEX, which are central to border management, internal security, and judicial cooperation within the EU.

She highlighted the upcoming Entry/Exit System (EES) as a key development that will bolster border security across the Schengen Area. Männik stressed the agency’s commitment to high standards in data protection, cybersecurity, and respect for fundamental rights. And, as the 2024 Chair of the Justice and Home Affairs Agencies Network (JHAAN), she outlined four main priorities: digitalisation, security, social responsibility, and cooperation in justice and home affairs.

There has been some confusion around the official launch date of the EES. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson recently commented that the system would go live on November 10 of this year, but a European Commission spokesperson later clarified that no date has been officially announced, saying only that EES would “be ready to enter into operation in Autumn 2024”.

In an online post about Männik’s remarks this week, eu-LISA’s official LinkedIn account referred to the EES “launching Nov 2024”.

Beyond the border control effort, in her speech Männik also previewed several important upcoming events, including the eu-LISA Industry Roundtable in November and the annual Heads of Agencies meeting in December, where leadership will pass to the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA). A White Paper detailing the future priorities of JHAAN is also expected later this year.

Source: eu-LISA

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September 5, 2024 – by Alex Perala and Cass Kennedy