Fingerprinting to enter EU to be scrapped amid delays

The much-delayed entry-exit system (EES) has been postponed - and possibly watered down - just eight weeks after the EU home affairs commissioner declared it would come into force on 10 November.

- SIMON CALDER

Ylva Johansson said the ambitious Schengen area border plan, requiring "third-country nationals" - including British visitors to provide fingerprints and facial biometrics on entry, would launch at every frontier post from the Arctic to the Aegean.

But in yet another blow for the troubled digital border project, it now appears a pilot programme is expected to begin some time in 2025, and a subtle change of wording from the European Commission suggests the demand for fingerprints may be quietly dropped.

France, Germany and the Netherlands had expressed alarm at plans to go ahead with a system that had not been tested on "live" border crossings. The travel industry, which has invested hundreds of millions of pounds preparing for the launch, is relieved that possible chaos has been averted - but furious that the decision has come so late.

A summary of proceedings of the EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council on Thursday revealed: "To ensure a smooth transition, the commission outlined plans to roll out the EES in a phased manner. The details of this approach will be established in the coming weeks."

It is now expected that a pilot scheme, perhaps involving a few medium-sized airports, ports and land frontiers, will begin at some point in 2025 - possibly as late as the autumn. But new legislation is required because it was never envisaged that there would be anything except a “big bang" approach with the system implemented everywhere from day one.