Von der Leyen admits 'technical problems' as EU airport border checks cause chaos

Hours-long queues, missed connecting flights and mounting fury from airlines – the EU’s new digital Entry/Exit System (EES) has plunged Europe’s busiest airports into chaos at the peak of summer travel, and on Friday European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen finally admitted the system is suffering from “technical problems”. Speaking at a press conference in Cork, Ireland, von der Leyen said: “We are working with the member states [so] that the technical problems are being solved.” She added: “There’s still quite a lot of work to do to have these technical issues solved together with the member states.” The comments mark a sharp reversal from the Commission’s earlier dismissals. Just two days earlier, internal affairs spokesperson Markus Lammert had insisted that “in most EU airports, this impact is indeed limited.” The aviation industry sees it very differently. In an open letter to von der Leyen on Wednesday, airport lobby ACI Europe and airline groups IATA and Airlines for Europe wrote that waiting times at border control “have increased significantly, now reaching up to five hours during peak traffic periods.” The groups warned that “these delays are impacting millions of passengers entering the Schengen Area” and urged the Commission to give countries “greater flexibility to completely suspend EES where necessary, at least throughout July and August.” Ryanair has gone further, specifically highlighting seven airports that are “not ready” to handle passenger numbers due to “insufficient staff, kiosks and system readiness.” The Dublin-based budget airline called on European governments to “suspend the rollout” of EES until September, warning that families “face passport queue chaos.” Ryanair’s chief operations officer, Neal McMahon, said: “As schools break up and Europe enters the busiest travel period of the year, it is clear that EES is still not ready for peak summer volumes. Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights and unnecessary stress at airports this summer. It is as simple as postponing EES until September, as other EU countries like Greece have already done.” The EES, which became mandatory on April 10, requires non-EU travellers – including from the UK – to register fingerprints and a facial image on first entry. The Commission had earlier claimed registration takes about 70 seconds, but at major hubs such as Rome’s Fiumicino Airport border officers were still manually entering data on day one. So far only Sweden and – but the full extent of the disruption remains laid bare as queues lengthen and tempers fray across the continent.