Winter holidays in Europe? Entering and leaving the EU can be a “way of the cross” for non-Europeans

The entry into force of the European Entry and Exit System (EES), based on a biometric registration of non-EU travelers as a security measure but above all to combat irregular immigration, is causing significant delays in many European airports just when the high summer tourism season begins.

Who for years entered with a more or less quick processBritish, Americans, Canadians, Japanese, Australiansa good part of Latin Americansthey enter now after spending hours in line.

Airports and airlines Protestantbut for now the European Commission and national governments are not moving and assure that there has been plenty of time to prepare.

In some airports, the busiest in countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Belgium, The queues are hours long in line for travelers who do not reside within the Schengen area. Some travelers have even passed five hours waiting for control. The most notable airports for now are Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife South, Lisbon, Rome and Brussels.

The EES is a system that replaces the traditional manual sealing of the passport by a digital record that stores the photograph of the face, fingerprints and the data of the document with which any citizen who is not a legal resident of the European Union who is going to travel up to 90 days in the Schengen area.

Beyond 90 days A residence permit is required. The system seeks to feed a common database for participating countries.

The problem at airports is that the process of digitally copying all the data It is slower than the old one process of stamping the passport and the eventual visa for whoever needed it. Especially if it is the passenger’s first trip in question and had never been registered in Europe.

In that case, it must be photographed and fingerprints taken to be digitized. If for some reason not working, You have to switch to manual control which slows down the process even more.

Airlines have been warning the European Commission for months that the system was not ready to come into force now. They allege that personal lack and that at the automatic registration kiosks There are continually technical problems.

The International Air Transport Association (AITA, the world’s largest airline association) even asked the European Commission to postpone the entry into force of the new system or that would allow controls to be temporarily suspended when the lines of passengers they are too long.

The traveler can complete part of the registration on your cell phone before reaching the control, but should stop anyway because you need to take a photo and check your fingerprints.

The European Commission continues to reject the suspension. The executive arm of the European Union assures that there will be no general suspension and that the EES is an essential instrument for European security.

Also, remember that more than 100 million border movements and several dozen cases of non-compliance with stay rules were detected.

The vast majority are cases of people who spent more than the 90 days maximum stay for tourists. The Commission does recognize that there are major problems at around 20 border crossings, but recalls that the system already allows specific exceptions in some cases.

In addition to airports, there are problems in some ports, like the British from Dover to register to travel to the European continent. And in the Eurotunnel, the train that crosses the English Channel underground between the French city of Calais and the English city of Folkestone.

Citizens of the European Union are not subject to these recordsso the lines are only for those who do not have legal residence in the European Union.

The European Commission asks for time. Community sources explain that the problems will be solved as soon as the computer systems are corrected and the personnel at the border posts go. taking experience with the new control system.

Meanwhile, The recommendation is to go to border control several hours before than usual and check the information published by the airports on their websites.