Despite a September 6 deadline that was supposed to mark the end of the ‘leniency’ period that allowed suspension of EES at airports when lines grew to long, the long and winding road to full EES compliance is still not complete.
Nine countries notified the European Commission that they could not, and would not, enforce the new controls, including fingerprint and photo checks, until the technology and systems were working properly. The commission has not responded formally, but appears to have informally allowed the countries to do so.
The countries are France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland—tourism-heavy countries that account for the largest share of EU/Schengen international traffic.
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