The European Union’s entry/exit system

KEY POINTS

Subject matter

Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 establishes the EES, a centralised IT system that:

• records entries, exits and refusals of entry of third-country nationals crossing the external borders of the Schengen area for a short stay;
• automatically calculates the duration of the authorised stay of those travellers and generates alerts to Schengen countries when the authorised stay has expired.

Regulation (EU) 2025/1534 establishes temporary derogations from these rules to allow for a 180-day ‘progressive start’ period, starting from 12 October 2025, the date on which the EES entered into operations in accordance with Decision (EU) 2025/1544.

During this progressive start, Schengen countries have the flexibility to roll-out the EES gradually at their border crossing points, as long as they meet the required thresholds. They can also decide to accelerate the deployment of the system or operate it fully from 12 October.

Several rules were introduced by Regulation (EU) 2025/1534 to allow for a progressive start of operations, including:

• for the six months of progressive start of operations of the EES, Schengen countries must continue stamping travel documents. In parallel, they have to register data in the EES;
• Schengen countries have the flexibility to gradually deploy biometric functionalities; certain functions are temporarily suspended – national authorities must disregard the automatic calculation of the length of stay and the lists of overstayers generated by the EES.

Scope

The EES:

• applies to third-country nationals who cross the external borders of the Schengen area, both visa required and visa exempt, visiting for a short stay of up to 90 days in a 180-day period;
• operates at the external borders of Schengen countries that apply the Schengen acquis in full and at the borders of Schengen countries that – at the time the system starts operating – do not yet apply the Schengen acquis in full, but have successfully gone through the Schengen evaluation procedure and obtained passive access to the VIS and full access to the Schengen information system (SIS).

Data storage and accessibility

The EES stores data on identity and travel documents (full name, date of birth, etc.), along with biometric data (fingerprints and facial images) and the date and place of entry and exit or refusal of entry.

These data are:

• kept for three years for those travellers who respect the short-stay rules, counted from the exit or refusal of entry and five years for those who exceed their authorised period of stay, counted from the date of expiry of the authorised stay;
• accessible to competent authorities, including border authorities and visa-issuing authorities.

To prevent, detect or investigate terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences, designated law enforcement authorities and the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) may make a request to consult EES data.

Technical architecture

The EES comprises:

• a central system operating a computerised central database of biometric and alphanumeric (a mix of letters and numbers) data;
• a national uniform interface in each participating country;
• a secure communication channel between the central systems of the EES and of the VIS;
• a secure and encrypted communication infrastructure between the EES central system and the national uniform interfaces (identical interfaces for all Schengen countries connect their border infrastructures to the EES central system);
• a data repository to obtain customisable reports and statistics;
• a web service to enable third-country nationals to verify their remaining authorised stay.

eu-LISA is responsible for developing and operating the system, including adapting the VIS to ensure the interoperability between the EES and VIS central systems.

Amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 adapts Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 to the introduction of the screening of third-country nationals at the EU’s external borders. Among other things, it grants the screening authorities access to the EES to verify whether individuals might pose a threat to internal security.

Amendment of the Schengen Borders Code

Regulation (EU) 2017/2225 amends the Schengen Borders Code as regards the use of the EES at the external borders of the Schengen area as follows:

• the entry, exit and refusal of entry of third-country nationals subject to the EES are recorded directly in the EES;
• third-country nationals must provide biometric data to be registered in the EES;
• the identity of third-country nationals and the authenticity and validity of their travel documents for crossing the border are verified;
• Schengen countries may set up national entry facilitation programmes on a voluntary basis for pre-vetted third-country nationals;
• Schengen countries may decide whether, and to what extent, to make use of technologies such as self-service systems for third-country nationals to pre-enrol or update data in the EES, e‑gates and automated border control systems, as long as an appropriate level of security is ensured, their use is supervised and border guards have access to the results of such border checks.

Please note that some of these rules are not applicable as of the start of operations of the EES but are gradually being implemented, as allowed by Regulation (EU) 2025/1534.

Implementing acts

The European Commission has adopted a series of acts implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2226:

• Decision (EU) 2018/1547 – specifications for connecting the central access points to the EES and for a technical solution to facilitate the collection of data by Schengen countries for generating statistics on the access to EES data for law enforcement purposes;
• Decision (EU) 2018/1548 – rules for drawing up the list of persons identified as overstayers in the EES and the procedure to make that list available to Schengen countries;
• Decision (EU) 2019/326 – measures for entering the data into the EES;
• Decision (EU) 2019/327 – measures for accessing the data in the EES;
• Decision (EU) 2019/328 – measures for keeping and accessing the logs in the EES;
• Decision (EU) 2019/329 – specifications for the quality, resolution and use of fingerprints and facial images for biometric verification and identification in the EES;
• Decision (EU) 2022/1337 – template for the provision of information to third-country nationals about the processing of personal data in the EES;
• Regulation (EU) 2022/1409 – conditions for operating the web service provided for by Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 and its development and technical implementation;
• Decision (EU) 2023/2601 – rules on managing the functionality for the centralised management of the lists of competent national authorities accessing the EES and the VIS.