EU announcement today.
The European Commission has decided to delay the introduction of the Entry/Exit System (EES), the bloc's automated registry for short-stay travellers that was expected to come into force on 10 November.
The announcement was made by Ylva Johansson, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, at the end of a meeting of EU interior ministers on Thursday where the issue was discussed.
"10th of November is no longer on the table," Johansson told reporters, noting that Germany, France and the Netherlands had declared their unreadiness.
"I hope we can start as soon as possible but there's no new timeline so far. This also depends on the legal assessment that we will do and we're working on it right now.
Johannson spoke of "some concerns when it comes to the resilience of the system."
As an alternative, she said, the EU could introduce the EES in a phased-in manner "with a little step by step going into the system, not a Big Bang of all border crossing points at the same time."
However, that approach is not foreseen under the current regulation and "targeted amendments" to the legal text would be required to make it happen.
At any rate, she stressed, the gradual introduction would not start on 10 November.
The European Commission has decided to delay the introduction of the Entry/Exit System (EES), the bloc's automated registry for short-stay travellers that was expected to come into force on 10 November.
The announcement was made by Ylva Johansson, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, at the end of a meeting of EU interior ministers on Thursday where the issue was discussed.
"10th of November is no longer on the table," Johansson told reporters, noting that Germany, France and the Netherlands had declared their unreadiness.
"I hope we can start as soon as possible but there's no new timeline so far. This also depends on the legal assessment that we will do and we're working on it right now.
Johannson spoke of "some concerns when it comes to the resilience of the system."
As an alternative, she said, the EU could introduce the EES in a phased-in manner "with a little step by step going into the system, not a Big Bang of all border crossing points at the same time."
However, that approach is not foreseen under the current regulation and "targeted amendments" to the legal text would be required to make it happen.
At any rate, she stressed, the gradual introduction would not start on 10 November.
