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France listed among countries to delay full EES border check rollout
Ferry operators say technology does not work well enough yet
Update 14:18 September 14, 2026: Asked about the reports, the interior ministry confirms that "with regard to the implementation of the EES and the widespread roll-out of pre-registration facilities (kiosks and tablets), flexibility will be allowed until the end of the year".
France and eight other Schengen countries have reportedly been given a further delay in fully enforcing the EU's new biometric border system, despite temporary flexibility officially ending last week.
The countries are understood to have told the European Commission that they cannot yet enforce the Entry/Exit System (EES) fully without risking serious disruption at their borders.
France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland have reportedly been allowed to continue limiting biometric checks to “maintain border fluidity”, reports The Times.
No new deadline has been set, according to the report.
The commission has not commented on the subject.
Widespread delays
The development comes as French ferry operators warn that the technology needed for EES checks does not work well enough to process passengers quickly.
Jean-Marc Roué, president of Brittany Ferries, told French maritime publication Le Marin that passengers could not be expected to wait an additional three hours to simply leave the port after a nine-hour Channel crossing.
At Granville, Manche, passengers arriving from the Channel Islands face waits of up to three hours after disembarking, according to Olivier Normand, commercial director of Manche Îles Express.
He added the delays are causing English customers to abandon the routes.
Ferry operators blame problems with the software being used for the biometric checks, echoing concerns raised by multiple industry groups including Airports Council International (ACI), Airlines for Europe (A4E) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), earlier this summer.
French airports group UAF as well as the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar also say that main problem has been software and other technical functional issues with the pre-registration equipment that the French authorities chose to install at large airports and other busy borders.
They are meant to speed up queues by allowing passengers to enter most of their EES information themselves, including facial images and fingerprints, prior to arrival at the border. However, the operators report that, while trials are continuing, and showing improvements, the facilities are still not sufficiently reliable.
We understand that the issues in France do not, at this stage, relate to failures of the central EU IT systems, but principally with this pre-registration equipment – the responsibility of the French state and its contractors Thales – and how it connects with the central systems and other structures such as PARAFE passport e-gates.
The reports have underlined the practical difficulties France faced following the September 6 deadline for temporary EES flexibility.
That flexibility allowed border points to temporarily suspend the collection of fingerprints and facial images ('biometric data') when queues became excessive. The EU had previously said it would not extend the arrangement.
Airlines and airports had warned that removing the flexibility could lead to serious disruption.
The International Air Transport Association called for the safeguards to remain available after September 6, saying airports were still experiencing operational and technical problems.
French airports also warned of likely further problems during the autumn and Christmas travel peaks if the flexibility was not continued until kiosks are ready.
The latest reported EU concession means British travellers may continue to see different levels of biometric checking depending on where they enter France and the wider Schengen area.
EES formally remains in operation, and border guards should still be, as a minimum, creating EES digital files including people's passport information and logging their movements in and out of the Schengen area.
However, the latest development suggests that the collection of biometrics will continue to be applied unevenly at French border crossings for the time being.
