New Digital Border System: EU Commission welcomes agreement on progressive rollout

Brussels, 20 May 2025

The European Commission welcomes yesterday’s provisional political agreement by the European Parliament and the Council on the Commission’s proposal for a progressive rollout of Europe’s new digital border system, the Entry/Exit System (EES).

This agreement will allow the EES to start operation gradually over a period of six months. All Member States will start implementing the EES as soon as it becomes operational and border authorities will progressively register the data of third country nationals crossing the borders. All individuals will be registered by the end of the six months period.The EES will improve the management of external borders, enhance security in the Schengen area by detecting overstayers and reducing identity fraud, and enable automated border checks. This will help speed up border procedures, making travel smoother and safer for all.This agreement is a key step to ensure that information systems in the Schengen area can work together. It will allow Member States to start benefitting from the new system, whilst giving border authorities and the transport industry more time to adjust to the new procedures.

Next Steps

The Regulation must now be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. It will then enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Once adopted and in force and after receiving declarations of readiness from Member States, the Commission will set the date of the system’s gradual rollout. The EES will then be deployed gradually and will be fully operational within six months from the progressive start.

Background

The EES is an advanced technological system that will digitally record the entries and exits of non-EU nationals travelling to 29 European countries for short stays. It will capture biometric data, such as fingerprints, facial image, and other travel information, replacing the current system of passport stamping.

For More Information

Commission proposal for a progressive start of Europe’s new digital border system Questions & answers on the Commission proposal Official Travel Europe website

Quote(s)

This agreement marks a key milestone in improving border management across Europe, and brings us a step closer to implementing the most advanced digital border management system in the world. The Entry/Exit System will strengthen the EU’s external borders and enhancing security. The progressive rollout of the system ensures a smooth and safe transition for all Member States.

Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy

The Entry-Exit System is the digital cornerstone of our new, robust border management system for the Schengen area. For the first time, we will have real-time, complete and reliable information on who enters and leaves the Schengen Area. This will help us close gaps in the current system and strengthen mutual trust among the Member States. We must now implement the systems as soon as possible – the Commission and the EU agencies are supporting the Member States in this effort.

Magnus Brunner, Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration

Source – EU Commission

EU Parliament on border security agreement on gradual roll-out of Entry-Exit System

Entry-Exit System will register non-EU nationals’ external border crossings for short stays
Aim is to improve security, speed up border checks and reduce queues
Gradual launch of system over 180 days to allow EU countries to prepare

Parliament and Council have reached an agreement on gradually rolling out the Entry-Exit System (EES) at the EU’s external borders.

Negotiating teams from the European Parliament and the Polish presidency of the Council have reached an agreement on how to introduce the Entry-Exit System (EES) at the EU’s external borders.

Once operational, the system will register data, including biometric data such as facial images and fingerprints, of third‑country nationals entering and leaving the Schengen area on short‑stay visas. The aim is to improve security, speed up the border check process, and reduce queues.

Roll-out over 180 days

The idea behind gradual implementation over 180 days is to prevent a simultaneous launch in all countries from compromising the system. During the roll-out period, the launch could be temporarily suspended if waiting times become too long or there are technical issues.

The co-legislators adjusted the Commission’s original proposal for the plan’s timeline: 10% of crossings must be recorded in the system by the 30th day (as opposed to the 1st day) and 35% by the 90th day (as opposed to 50%). The idea is to ramp up implementation exponentially, making up for a slow start with faster progress later.

MEPs succeeded in negotiating contingency measures in case of problems with the system’s central roll-out, and improved coordination between the central and national plans. It was also agreed that the gradual roll-out should remain voluntary, meaning that EU countries can roll the system out all at once if they prefer. Finally, MEPs ensured that missing entries in the EES cannot be the only justification for a decision adversely affecting a traveller.

Quote

Rapporteur Assita Kanko (ECR, Belgium) said:

“This agreement on the Entry-Exit System marks an important step towards making the EU’s external borders more secure and ensuring that legitimate travellers don’t face unnecessary hurdles. We worked on the new law at top speed and secured a more realistic launch timetable to allow the system to be put in place as soon as possible. Now we call on the remaining member states to finish their preparations and issue declarations of readiness, so that the roll-out can begin in earnest.”

Next steps

The result still needs to be adopted formally by both co-legislators. On the Parliament side, this means a Civil Liberties Committee vote followed by a plenary vote. Once the legislation has entered into force, the Commission will decide when to launch the 180-day roll-out period.

Background

The Entry-Exit System (EES) is one of the EU’s interoperable databases for border management and security. Once it is fully operational, physical stamping of passports will be replaced by entries in the EES, to be accessible for real-time consultation by other Schengen area member states, in line with their security needs. The EES has been developed by the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA), which will also develop the central roll-out plan.

This is first time that biometric data, including fingerprints and facial images, will be collected systematically at EU external borders. The system is expected to reduce violations of entry rules.

Further information

Source – EU Parliament

EU Council on border management agreement about progressive launch of Entry/Exit system

19 May 2025 17:05

A provisional deal agreed today between the Council and the European Parliament allows member states to gradually introduce the Entry/Exit digital border management system (EES) over a period of six months.

Thanks to this agreement member states will be able to deploy the new border management system for registering the entry and exit into the Schengen area of non-EU nationals. This is good news and will support our efforts to keep our borders safe.

^{Tomasz Siemoniak, Polish Minister of the Interior and Administration}

The EES is an IT system that will digitally record entries and exits, data from the passport, fingerprints, and facial images of non-EU nationals travelling for short stays in an EU member state. Thanks to this system EU countries will have real-time access to third-country nationals’ personal data, travel history and information on whether they comply with the authorised period of stay in the Schengen area. As a result, the EES will significantly reduce the likelihood of identity fraud and overstay.

The phased introduction of the EES allows member states to start benefitting from its security features and gives border authorities and the transport industry more time to adjust to the new procedure.

Progressive start

Under the phased deployment, member states will progressively start operating the EES and work towards a minimum registration of 10% of border crossings after the first month. For the first 60 days, member states may operate the EES without biometric functionalities. After three months, member states should operate the EES – with biometric functionalities – at a minimum of 35% of their border crossing points. EU countries should reach full registration of all individuals by the end of the six months period of the progressive start of EES operation.

Until the end of this transition period, member states will also continue to manually stamp travel documents.

EES roll-out and start date

The gradual roll-out takes the diverse needs of member states into account. The new rules enable those who wish to implement the EES gradually over a 180 days period to do so, while making it possible for others to start operating the system fully from day one.

The regulation does not set a date for the start of the progressive deployment of the system. This will require a separate European Commission decision.

Suspension

The co-legislators agreed that during the progressive start of operations of the EES, member states may fully or partially suspend operating the EES at certain border crossing in exceptional circumstances (for instance when traffic intensity would lead to very high waiting times).

After the end of the progressive start, and again in exceptional circumstances, member states may also suspend operating the EES at a certain border crossing point for 6 hours.

Next steps

The agreement reached today is provisional. It will have to be confirmed by the Council and the Parliament before it can be formally adopted by both institutions.

Background

In October 2023, the Justice and Home Affairs Council endorsed plans to launch the EES at the end of 2024. As this deadline could not be met – and because of concerns that a full start of the system could constitute a risk factor for the resilience of the IT system – the Commission proposed a gradual start.

Because the EES regulation requires all member states to start using the EES fully and simultaneously, a new regulation was necessary to make a progressive start possible.

Source – EU Council