What consequences will the new EU entry/exit system have on travelers?
Third-country nationals will soon have to have their fingerprints scanned and a photo of their face taken when they arrive in the European Union. European ministers gave the green light on Wednesday for the gradual launch of the EU's digital border management system, known as the Entry/Exit System (EES), which will record the biometric data of non-European visitors upon arrival.
It will apply to third-country nationals travelling to the Schengen area for a total of 90 days within a 180-day period. No exact start date has been set, but the European Council aims for a gradual start starting in the autumn.
Julia Behrens, project officer for asylum and migration at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), believes that this electronic system could make it easier for individuals to prove they are legally on European soil, as stamps on passports can be wrong or illegible and passports can be lost, "which could lead to wrong conclusions, for example that the person has stayed on European soil for too long".
On the other hand, she believes that this digital system could pose risks to data protection. " When biometric data is collected and processed, the individual is always in a situation of power imbalance vis-à-vis the state that collects the data, because he or she may not understand the language. They may not be able to use computers. There are few lawyers who know the subject to help them claim their rights. This situation can make the individual more vulnerable," explains Behrens.
She points out that this system could affect the prevention of discrimination, the right to asylum and the rights of children. “Research has shown that biometric processing does not work as well for people of color ,” she adds. “ In the entry-exit system, while fingerprints only have to be taken from the age of 12, there is no age limit for facial images. So even babies will have to provide their facial images ,” she adds. That is why she is calling for border guards to be more aware of these risks.
While in the past the tourism industry predicted delays at borders, it is now more optimistic. " It will be quite a slow process getting everyone's fingerprints and photos taken but once that is in place I think things will go a little better, " Tom Jenkins, CEO of the European Travel and Tourism Association (ETOA), tells.
"The big problem we have is that we don't know when it's going to happen. It's been postponed several times." So there's a lot of uncertainty about the industry at the moment." The system, which dates back to 2016, has been postponed several times in order for member states to be better prepared and due to technical problems.
" The difficulty will be that this is a huge IT project and we have so many different countries and so many entry and exit points. So it will be very difficult to predict how it will all work from day one," says Robert Baltus, Chief Operating Officer at the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA). However, this is only the first step.
Citizens from 59 visa-exempt countries will need to obtain prior authorization to travel to 30 European countries under ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System). The start date for this has not yet been set.
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