EES, the police: ‘The system only handles 30–50 per cent of the traffic’
Paoloni, SAP: ‘The suspension has already been implemented at critical times.’ The airports facing difficulties: Fiumicino, Malpensa, Pisa and Verona
“The system can handle at most between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of passenger flows during border control procedures. Under current conditions, it is not possible to cope with the required workloads.” This is the assessment of Stefano Paoloni, general secretary of SAP, the Independent Police Union, whilst officers are busy managing the new European Entry/Exit System (EES).
The system, which was phased in from 12 October 2025 across the 29 participating countries and became fully operational on 10 April 2026, has replaced the traditional passport stamp with a digital record which, for citizens from non-Schengen countries, also includes the collection of biometric data. This procedure, according to operators, is slowing down checks at Europe’s main points of entry and could put further pressure on airports during the summer travel peak.
The European Commission continues to maintain that the reorganisation of checks will, once the settling-in phase is complete, significantly reduce the time taken for the entire entry process. Once fully operational, Brussels estimates that the automated procedure will take between 10 and 15 minutes on average.
This assessment has failed to convince the aviation sector, which has been calling on the Commission for weeks to temporarily suspend digital biometric checks. However, the technical meeting held in Brussels in recent days between the European Commission and aviation representatives did not yield any concessions. The Commission points to the system’s initial results, which it claims have already enabled the detection of over 45,000 attempts to enter the EU in breach of the rules and around 1,100 potential security threats.
It did, however, confirm the possibility – provided for under European legislation – of temporarily suspending the collection of biometric data during the summer of 2026 should this prove necessary to ensure the smooth flow of passengers, whilst leaving the operational management of any critical issues to individual Member States.
