Portugal and Italy are set to temporarily waive the European Union’s controversial new border controls to avoid chaos during the upcoming school holidays. Tourism experts believe that this will save British tourists from the problems caused by the chaotic introduction of the new system, writes the Daily Mail.
Greece is bigger. temporarily, until September, canceled the new rules of the Entry and Exit System (EES) for British tourists, after their introduction caused huge crowds and delays. The rules state that all visitors from countries outside the EU must provide their biometric data, i.e. scan their face and fingerprints, at special kiosks in airports and at border crossings.
Portugal moreć now it lets passengers through without biometric verification if there are too many jams, and it is expected that Italy, on the eve of the May school holidays, will follow the example of Greece and allow tourists to enter only with a stamp in their passport. Spain, France and Croatia could also follow in their footsteps because the EES seems to be “collapsing like a house of cards” due to problems with faulty biometric technology and a lack of staff. Seamus McCauley from the tourist company Holiday Extras said that many countries will have no choice but to ignore EU rules in order to protect the livelihood of their citizens who depend on tourism.
“Countries will not sit idly by and watch Greece take over their tourists just because travelers there do not face delays due to the EES. That would be politically disastrous because jobs are at stake,” he said. “The introduction of the system is a complete failure. British tourists bring 3.5 billion euros to the Greek economy annually and Greece has correctly decided not to put this into question because of the EES that is not functioning properly.”
McCauley added that it is “almost certain” that Portugal and Italy will soon follow suit. “After that, the whole system could collapse like a house of cards. Spain, France and Croatia could come to the same conclusion because no one wants their tourists to go to another country just to comply with the EU,” he pointed out.
Tourism experts believe that Brussels is practically powerless to take measures against Greece and countries that might follow its example.
The possible financial penalties are negligible compared to the additional income from tourism that countries will achieve by avoiding chaos at airports. Even if the EU sues Greece in the European Court of Justice, the procedure would be prolonged and end long after the summer holidays, by which time the Greek Council would reintroduced EES.