EU rejects call to pause EES for summer despite major airport delays

The European Union has refused to hit pause on the new Entry/Exit System (EES) to help airports and airlines deal with the surge of travellers expected during the summer holidays.

EU says suspending EES is "not needed"

Last week, the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe called on EU President Ursula von der Leyen to "take stock of reality" and temporarily suspend EES checks over the busy summer travel period.

According to ACI, before the busy summer period has even begun, passengers have faced waits of up to five hours to log their information at the EES control point, some planes have had to delay takeoff to wait for passengers and other flights have seen “half-empty planes at gate closing time”. 

According to reports by the Guardian, the EU has since rejected the proposal, meaning the biometric border control system will remain in place.

While recognising that out of a total of 1.500 EU border crossing points, there are “20 difficult spots” where extensive queues are a problem, a full-blown suspension of the entry system was “not needed” and also “not possible”. 

The EU explained that it would be infeasible for the system to operate in only some countries and could lead to an “unfortunate situation of travellers stranded at border crossings.” 

The EES was fully implemented on April 10, 2026, and requires non-EU citizens to log their passport details and biometric data when they initially enter any EU country, before proceeding to passport control.

EES has so far recorded 110 million journeys to and from the Schengen Area, and around 44.500 people were refused entry, the Guardian continues. The main reason for refusal was due to “no appropriate justification of visit or stay”, followed by travellers who had overstayed the 90-day visa.

EU airports to be busy this summer

Passengers heading to popular holiday destinations such as Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece have been experiencing “delays and missed connections,” according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Budget airline Ryanair has also warned of “queue chaos” at airports such as Alicante, Málaga and Palma.

While refusing to heed calls from ACI, the EU has said it will put pressure on countries likely to see an influx of passengers. This could include encouraging them to implement measures such as having additional border control employees on hand to help.

Holiday-goers with a non-EU passport who have a German residence permit do not need to register in the EES system so long as they travel with all necessary documents (i.e. passport and residence permit). However, all travellers should expect delays if fellow passengers are held up.