EU’s Virus-Based Biometrics Control Grid to Finally Come Into Effect (Allegedly)

[Artaxerxes II]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... ayed-again

The full implementation of an EU entry-exit system introducing fingerprinting and facial recognition checks at ports and airports is expected to be delayed again amid fears over congestion and long queues.

Ylva Johansson, the EU’s home affairs commissioner, said recently that the new entry-exit system (EES) would be introduced on 10 November with a contingency of delaying it one week to 17 November.

Johansson had given member states until 5 September to provide the required declaration on their state of readiness.

It is understood three countries, France, Germany and the Netherlands, have written to her to say they will not be ready. They raised concerns about the lack of testing of the system in the field, raising new questions about the target launch date, according to multiple sources.

The EES is being introduced at all entry ports and airports within the Schengen area so also impacts airports across the continent, particularly Schipol, Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt – three of Europe’s biggest transport hubs – while Germany is also concerned about Cologne and Munich.

Passengers will have their fingerprints or photo of their face taken the first time they arrive in the EU after the introduction of the EES, with electronic verification of biometric data thereafter.