What Is the Latest EU Entry/Exit System News in 2024?

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We have explained what ETIAS is and how it will affect your travel plans. This revealed delays due to “EU Entry/Exit System (EES) issues” and “the setting up of the EES in the autumn of 2024”. In this article, we go into more detail about the latest Entry/Exit System news.

The EES ABC

In order to provide the most helpful Entry/Exit System news story, we’re going to have to rewind to the beginning. And Document 32017R2226 .

This cites “Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2017 establishing an Entry/Exit System (EES) to register entry and exit data and refusal of entry data of third-country nationals crossing the external borders of the Member States and determining the conditions for access to the EES for law enforcement purposes”.

The Entry/Exit System news item of the time centred on the European Commission’s recommendation for electronic recognition of the entry and exit of third-country nationals (TCNs) to and from these borders. 

This would record the time and place a TCN entered and exited, with the taking of the name, type of travel document, and biometrics (facial image and fingerprints) . In creating this EES, it would obliterate the need for airport immigration staff to stamp passports.

A date and location record is key to enforcing the limit of stay allowed in the Schengen area. That of 90 days in any 180-day period. As well as registering arrivals and departures of these visa-free travellers, the EES will monitor incoming and outgoing holders of a short-stay-visa.

The Entry/Exit System guards against criminals and terrorists, recording rejections and the reasons for such refusals. It allows the easier storage and sharing of visitor data. If a TCN overstays or makes an unauthorized journey into EU member states, the EES’s tracking of their movements will show this.

EU Entry/Exit System Issues

Complications with contractors meant that the proposed 2022 launch was put back to the middle of May 2023. Continued delays relating to outsourcing saw the implementation timeline shift back to a scheduled end of 2023. 2024 arrived with still no EES in place.

France pushed to delay the rolling out of this new system until after the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Sunday, October 6 2024 is the new rumoured start date. Yet there are calls from concerned and confused EU member and non-member states to push back this deadline further.

As a TCN, you will use the self-service EES when entering and leaving all EU member states, excluding Cyprus and Ireland. You’ll also access the Entry/Exit System travelling into and out of 4 non-EU countries in the Schengen Area. These are Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Despite Brexit, EES comes into play on ferry crossings from Dover and international train services. This is because of the dual British-French borders in place at these locations. The popularity of Dover with car and coach passengers looks set to complicate things further.

The RIF Trust Take on all the Entry/Exit System News

Our European Residency and Citizenship by Investment (RCBI) specialist Ilana van Huyssteen-Meyer shares the general wariness and worry surrounding EES. She points out that the facial recognition software relies on AI.  “We know from our experiences with artificial intelligence, that the technology has the tendency to hallucinate,” she points out.

Van Huyssteen-Meyer continues: “With this awareness, are we confident that the AI will deliver accurate readings? Could it discriminate against travellers on the grounds of disability and ethnicity?”

“Another consideration is that your biometric data will be stored for 3 years. This could feel like a violation of your privacy.”

“My final concern,” our European RCBI expert concludes, “relates to the DIY aspect of EES.”  “The Entry/Exit System is being brought in to cut delays but there will be more, especially at the beginning with travellers unfamiliar with the new procedure.”

“EES will increase the divides between the haves and the have-nots. You can join the haves by securing a European residents’ card or passport.”

“I recommend Malta. Here you can apply citizenship via Maltese Exceptional Investor Naturalization (MEIN). They run the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP) too.”

How to Beat the Entry/Exit System

As Ilana van Huyssteen-Meyer has indicated, you can avoid having to use the EES through European Residency and Citizenship by Investment. These include obtaining Greek. Portuguese, or Spanish Golden Visas. So, don’t delay and contact RIF Trust today if you want to discuss European RCBI solutions.