Two more countries are expected to abandon controversial EU border checks after the Entry/Exit System (EES) rules caused major queues at popular European holiday destinations
British tourists heading to two popular European holiday destinations have been issued a new update after ‘shambolic’ queues clogged up major airports.
Portugal and Italy are tipped to be the next holiday destinations to abandon controversial EU border checks, with the Greeks already having shelved the new Entry/Exit System (EES) rules for UK holidaymakers until September following severe delays.
Reports suggest that travellers have been left stranded for hours because of the new system, with some even losing their flights as a consequence.
The post-Brexit regulations require all non-EU visitors to use dedicated kiosks at airports and border crossings to submit biometric data, including facial scans and fingerprints.
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Portugal is currently waving passengers through when queues become unmanageable, and is expected to follow Greece’s lead ahead of the May half-term by reverting to traditional passport stamps.
Faulty biometric technology and staff shortages are said to have been contributing to the problems, which have also been reported in France and Croatia.
Seamus McCauley, from the travel firm Holiday Extras, told the Mail on Sunday: “Countries are not going to sit back and let Greece take their trade just because they won’t face EES delays at airports. To do so would be politically toxic when jobs are on the line.
“The rollout has been an utter fiasco. British tourists are worth €3.5 billion a year to the Greek economy, and the country has rightly decided it will not jeopardise that simply because the EES is failing to function properly.”
It comes after budget airline Ryanair called for the EES rollout to be paused until September.
Describing the system as ‘half-baked’, Ryanair’s statement this week read: “Despite knowing for over three years that EES would become fully operational from 10 April 2026, France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany have failed to ensure that adequate staffing, system readiness, or kiosks are in place.
“As a result, passengers are suffering long passport control queues and, in some cases, missing their flights.”, reports the Mirror.
“Ryanair calls on these EU Governments to suspend the rollout of the EU’s passport control Entry/Exit System (EES) until September to ensure that passengers are not needlessly forced to suffer long passport control queue delays at European airports during the peak summer season.”
The Foreign Office warned ahead of the introduction of the EES system on April 10 that passengers should be “prepared to wait longer than usual at the border” when entering the EU.
