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domingo, 5 de julho de 2026

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has acknowledged that the European Union’s newly implemented digital Entry/Exit System (EES) is experiencing "technical problems," noting that there is "still quite a lot of work" required alongside member states to fix the ongoing issues.

Von der Leyen admits ‘technical problems’ with new EU airport border checks

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has acknowledged that the European Union’s newly implemented digital Entry/Exit System (EES) is experiencing "technical problems," noting that there is "still quite a lot of work" required alongside member states to fix the ongoing issues. Her admission comes in response to immense pressure from the aviation industry, as the new biometric border checks have caused extensive travel disruptions across European airports during the peak summer holiday season.

The Core Issues and Travel Impact

Five-Hour Delays: Industry groups report that waiting times at border control have spiked drastically, reaching up to five hours during peak traffic hours.
Half-Empty Flights: Passengers are getting stuck in terminal queues so long that airlines are forced to depart with half-empty aircraft to preserve tight scheduling windows.
Summer Surge: The bottlenecks are exacerbating an already stressed infrastructure as European airports prepare to process an additional 40 million passengers over July and August.
The EES Mandate: Fully implemented in April 2026, the system requires all non-EU travelers to submit facial scans and fingerprint biometric data upon their initial entry into the Schengen zone, replacing manual passport stamps.

Industry Pushback and Next Steps

In a joint letter sent to Von der Leyen, major industry bodies—including Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, Airlines for Europe, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA)—have formally requested the authority to "completely suspend" EES biometric collections through July and August where lines exceed capacity. They are urging a temporary return to traditional passport controls to save Europe's travel reputation.

While several individual ports and airports have already paused biometric collection during peak hours to clear queues, the European Commission continues to maintain the long-term necessity of the system. Officials highlight that since the soft launch began late last year, the EES has logged over 108 million travelers and successfully flagged roughly 1,000 security risks. The Commission is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting with aviation leaders on July 7 to address the technical bottlenecks.

Von der Leyen admits ‘technical problems’ with new EU airport border checks

Von der Leyen admits ‘technical problems’ with new EU airport border checks

Airlines blame the Entry/Exit System for hours-long queues and missed connecting flights.

July 3, 2026 6:32 pm CET

By Tommaso Lecca

https://www.politico.eu/article/ursula-von-der-leyen-admits-technical-problems-with-new-eu-airport-border-checks/

The EU’s new digital Entry/Exit System is experiencing “technical problems,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged on Friday.

“We are working with the member states [so] that the technical problems are being solved,” von der Leyen said at a press conference in Cork, Ireland.

The EES has been a subject of concern since its gradual rollout last year, but the problems have become more acute as air traffic picks up during Europe’s peak summer travel season.

Airports and airlines have blamed the new border control system — which requires travelers from non-EU countries to register their biometric data — for hours-long queues, operational disruption and missed connecting flights.

“There’s still quite a lot of work to do to have these technical issues solved together with the member states,” von der Leyen said.

The comments mark a shift in tone from the Commission, which had downplayed disruption linked to the EES. “In most EU airports, this impact is indeed limited,” Markus Lammert, the Commission’s spokesperson for internal affairs, said Wednesday.

The Commission said earlier this year that registering an entry or exit typically takes about 70 seconds.

The aviation industry sees things very differently.

Since the EES became mandatory, “waiting times at border control have increased significantly, now reaching up to five hours during peak traffic periods,” airport lobby ACI Europe and airline groups IATA and Airlines for Europe wrote in an open letter to von der Leyen on Wednesday.

“These delays are impacting millions of passengers entering the Schengen Area … At the same time, airports and airlines are experiencing growing operational disruption, including flight delays, missed connections and increasing pressure on frontline staff,” the three organizations wrote.

They urged the Commission to give countries greater flexibility “to completely suspend EES” where necessary, “at least throughout July and August.”

Under the EES, travelers from non-EU countries such as the U.K. and the U.S. must register their fingerprints and a facial image the first time they enter the bloc for a short stay.

The system is designed to combat overstays and the use of fraudulent travel documents by replacing passport stamps with a digital record. Registration can be accelerated through self-service kiosks or dedicated pre-registration apps.

However, when the system became mandatory on April 10, border officers were still manually entering data at major hubs such as Rome's Fiumicino Airport. So far, only Sweden and Portugal have activated the apps intended to speed up passenger processing.

Several airports and ports have temporarily suspended biometric data collection during peak travel periods to ease congestion.

The EES “did not change the legal frame about rules of entering and exiting the EU; it just creates transparency about abiding to the rules,” von der Leyen said in Cork.

The Commission has defended the system by pointing to its security benefits. Between its original launch in October last year and April, “over 700 persons were identified as posing a security risk to Europe,” it said.

Irish Minister for Home Affairs Jim O’Callaghan said those figures have since risen to “approximately a thousand people,” adding that around 110 million passengers have passed through EES checks since the system's introduction.

“It is effective in terms of protecting European Union security,” O’Callaghan said.

The "anti-woke Davos" is a popular media nickname for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference.

''anti-woke Davos'

The "anti-woke Davos" is a popular media nickname for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference. It is an annual three-day conservative international summit co-founded by psychologist Jordan Peterson and largely funded by British billionaire investor Paul Marshall.

The most recent iteration of the summit took place in late June 2026 at the Olympia exhibition center in London.

Core Purpose & Ideology

The conference positions itself as a right-wing, populist counterweight to the elite World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland. Instead of globalist, technocratic, or progressive "woke" frameworks, ARC centers its platform on the "recovery of civilisational foundations". This is defined through traditional Western, Judeo-Christian values, including:

Traditional Social Structures: A heavy focus on marriage, faith, religion, and family.
Economic Libertarianism: Promotion of free enterprise, property rights, and Bitcoin.
Pro-Natalism: Encouraging population growth to combat demographic decline in Western nations.
Anti-Green Policies: Strong hostility toward state-mandated Net Zero targets and environmental restrictions.

Key Developments and Figures at the 2026 Summit

The June 2026 conference gathered over 4,000 delegates from 85 countries, functioning as a major networking hub for the modern global right. Notable attendees and speakers included:

Nigel Farage & Reform UK: The prominent populist leader and Reform UK MPs used the platform to rally against progressive ideology.
Kemi Badenoch: The UK Conservative leader attended and strongly critiqued domestic progressive social changes and energy frameworks.
Kate Forbes: The Scottish politician sparked domestic discussion by delivering a speech advocating for the preservation of Judeo-Christian values as the baseline for democratic freedoms.
US Officials & Trump Backers: High-level officials from the Donald Trump administration and wealthy American fossil fuel donors attended to network and attack international climate policies.
Focus on AI: The 2026 conference shifted significant attention toward Artificial Intelligence, debating its impact on human relationships, art, and intellectual integrity.

Criticisms & Controversy

The conference drew substantial media coverage and pushback. Critics from outlets like The Guardian and Novara Media pointed out the irony of climate-skeptic speeches attacking UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband while London experienced extreme, record-breaking summer heatwaves. Secular organizations also criticized the event's speakers for leveraging faith to challenge existing civil liberties and social progress.