Border checks at all external crossing points of the European Union will become significantly stricter from Sunday, September 6, as temporary relief measures under the bloc's new Entry/Exit System (EES) expire. The changes apply to every land, sea and air border crossing on the EU's external frontier, according to Euronews.
The aviation industry has been the first to raise the alarm, warning of an imminent transport collapse once the exemptions end.
Over the summer, member states were allowed to temporarily suspend the collection of biometric data, including fingerprints and facial scans, to ease pressure at border crossings during emergencies. That exception now lapses.
How the EES Rollout Unfolded
The EES became fully operational at the borders of member states on April 10, 2026, following a phased rollout that began in October 2025. Throughout that period, border guards had a kind of safety net: the ability to temporarily simplify procedures whenever queues grew too long.
Air passengers are expected to feel the return of strict rules most acutely. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a standard passport check that used to take 20 to 25 seconds now takes around 90 seconds, which has doubled waiting times at major hubs.
Travelers Urged to Plan Ahead
Jürgen Himmelmann, co-founder and chief executive of Global Work & Travel, advised travelers to allow significantly more time for trips involving EU border crossings. Arriving at the airport early is sensible, he said, but it does not guarantee full control over the situation, since baggage check-in counters can close four hours before departure, and once a traveler is stuck in a passport control queue, there is no way to jump ahead even if their flight has already been called for boarding.
Airlines are demanding that emergency exceptions remain in place at least until the end of the winter season.
Industry Pushes Back
Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at the British travel trade association ABTA, said the industry continues to press the European Commission to allow the use of these measures beyond September, recognizing there is still a long way to go before the EES functions fully and reliably across all member states.
A study by the Financial Times and the analytics group Qsensor found that average waiting times at Frankfurt Airport reached 120 minutes in July, double the figure from the same period the previous year. In Munich, queues grew to 60 minutes from 31, while in Amsterdam the maximum waiting time jumped from 80 to 120 minutes.
What the EES System Requires
The phased introduction of the EES began on October 12, replacing traditional passport stamps with digital registration of entries and exits. Its stated goal is to strengthen border security and more effectively counter illegal migration.
The new rules apply to all citizens of non-EU countries, including Ukrainians. Crossing the border now requires mandatory biometric registration: travelers must have their passports scanned, be photographed, provide fingerprints (except children under 12) and give formal consent for the processing of their personal data.
Early Problems Prompted the Flexibility Measures
Difficulties emerged from the very start of the rollout. In the early stages, passengers widely complained of multi-hour queues at airports, and the International Council of Airports (ACI) recorded a 70 percent jump in the time needed to pass through control.
To ease pressure at crossing points, the rules were temporarily softened. In July, nine countries, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland, formally asked Brussels to extend the so-called emergency flexibility mechanism.
That mechanism gave border guards the right to temporarily suspend the collection of fingerprints and facial scans during peak periods in order to clear queues faster. It was thanks to these relaxed rules that crossing points coped over the summer when they could not otherwise handle the influx of travelers.
In their joint appeal to the European Commission, the ministers stressed that the system's first months had revealed significant gaps and difficulties that could not be ignored without keeping the simplified rules in place.
