In the summer season of 2023, hell and collapse await tourists again at airports and on other borders of Europe. This time, the culprit was not aviation, but the situation with “pan-European security.” The fact is that in May 2023, the entry/exit system (EES) will fully come into force, and representatives of the EU countries have already expressed their concerns – it will at least halve the speed of border control by tourists. And during peak hours, this can turn into a real hell for visiting tourists.
Recall that EES is a new scheme created by the EU, which should serve to record data on the entry and exit of third-country nationals crossing the external borders of states -members. Through it, the EU intends to strengthen and protect the external borders of the Schengen area and increase security.
“Border processing time at external borders will increase due to the procedures that each traveler will have to go through in order for his data to be stored in the EEC,” experts said. Thus, the German authorities fear that at some airports in the country it will be necessary to increase the capacity for border control during peak seasons – while we recall that the problem with staff was already felt this summer – and whether it will be solved is unknown. The Austrian authorities also predict that waiting times at the borders will be twice as long as they are now. Moreover, the border control itself will become more complex. As a result, if earlier the time of standing in queues reached up to an hour, then with this system the tourist will have to stand for a good two hours. And at peak dates, the system threatens to collapse, bringing the situation into complete chaos.
The Poles are also panicking – according to their estimates, the time for passing the border control of one passenger will increase from 30 seconds to two minutes if additional actions are not required. Slovenia has calculated that the new process, which includes border control, enrollment and verification, will take four times as long as the current procedures. At the same time, “the infrastructure is as it is and cannot be changed,” they add.
While the authorities of most states claim that they are already working on automating border control through the installation of electronic gates and self-service kiosks, assessments of the introduction The new system is fraught with gloomy expectations.
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