In the future, the European Union wants to register the entrances and trips of third -country citizens. This is to provide a new electronic entry system to the Schengen zone. Its gradual introduction was agreed on Wednesday (05/03/2025) in Brussels by EU interior ministers.
With an annual delay
Originally, the new entry/trip system (EES – Entry/Exit System) was to be launched in November 2024. Now, with less than a year's delay, it can start in October. – We are ready to introduce the entry/trip system and we hope that everything will take place now – said German Minister Nancy Faeser in Brussels.
As part of the new system, biometric data for facial recognition or fingerprints will replace a traditional stamp in the passport. The system is to accelerate access to data, and thus help in the fight against cross -border crime and terrorism.
The system will digitally record the name of the person crossing the border, his travel document, biometric data, such as fingerprints and the image of the face, as well as the date and place of entry and departure. The system will also be registered with refusal to enter the entry.
Slow implementation
In Brussels, it is expected that the Member States and the European Parliament will adopt new regulations by the end of this year. After their entry into force, the approximately six -month transitional phase for their implementation will start.
Member States have now agreed the possibility of gradually implementing a new system. In the first month after launching, EU countries are to electronically register at least 10 percent of the border crossing. After three months, the electronic entry system should be used on at least half of the border stations, and then record biometric data. Full implementation is to take place after 180 days at the latest.
Will extend the procedures?
The ESE EST is responsible for the technical implementation of the EES system with large -scale IT systems based in Estonia. In some countries, including In Germany and France, there have been fears that EES is not yet fully developed. That is why the head of the German Ministry of the Interior emphasized in Brussels that the system must be “very safe” and “resistant” until it was launched.
The new system raises a lot of controversy, especially in Great Britain. There are fears that travel procedures from Great Britain to the Schengen zone may be extended. The Schengen zone includes 25 out of 27 EU Member States (Cyprus does not belong to it Ireland), as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
(AFP/DOM)
The article comes from the website Deutsche Welle