- The EU's entry-exit system (EES), designed to register biometrics of “third-country nationals” including Britons, is unravelling just days before its scheduled completion on 10 April.
- While some Schengen nations are processing travellers according to the new rules, key countries like France are reportedly far from ready, despite a six-month progressive roll-out.
- The scheme, intended to replace passport wet stamping with facial biometrics and fingerprints, faces significant implementation issues, including connectivity problems at Folkestone, Dover, and St Pancras, where frontier formalities are “juxtaposed”.
- Travellers are already experiencing extremely long queues and missed flights at airports where EES is in force, prompting calls from aviation leaders for its suspension during summer 2026.
- The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias), often called the 'euro visa', is now highly unlikely to be implemented before the end of 2026, despite repeated assurances.
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