Nine European countries delay some biometric checks under the Entry/Exit System

Biometric rollout becomes uneven

Nine European countries have requested or introduced temporary flexibility for parts of the biometric checking process used by the European Union’s Entry/Exit System, according to the Guardian. France, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium were reported to be delaying fingerprint or facial-data collection at selected crossings rather than abandoning the digital system altogether.

Spain was reported to be applying the requirements fully. The contrast matters because the system covers non-EU short-stay travellers entering the Schengen area, including many British visitors. It is designed to replace manual passport stamping with a digital record of entries, exits and refusals, supported by fingerprints and facial images where required.

The central system remains in operation

European Commission guidance says the Entry/Exit System became fully operational on April 10, 2026. The official framework records identity, travel-document and biometric information and is intended to identify overstays and improve detection of identity fraud. The new national adjustments therefore concern the pace and location of biometric capture rather than suspension of the central registration architecture.

The Guardian reported that the system had already accumulated about 200 million registrations and had stopped approximately 70,000 travellers, compared with 43,700 in June. It also said operational problems were concentrated at a small number of airports relative to the roughly 1,500 crossing points participating in the scheme. Those figures illustrate both the system’s scale and the disruptive potential of failures at busy hubs.

Pressure at ports and airports

Governments are balancing enforcement against the risk of queues, missed transport connections and congestion at airports, ferry terminals and rail facilities. Biometric enrolment takes longer on a traveller’s first journey, making staffing levels, equipment reliability and physical terminal space important. The Commission’s Travel to Europe application is intended to let eligible travellers submit some information in advance, although official guidance identified Sweden and Portugal as the initial participating states.

The next issue is whether temporary national exceptions converge into a uniform operating standard. Border authorities must show that delayed biometric collection does not weaken overstay detection or produce inconsistent treatment between routes. Travellers should continue to expect EES registration, while transport operators and governments will watch waiting times and system reliability during the remaining transition.