9 European countries defy EU rules to HALT EES checks following nightmare queues

EES checks have been causing travel chaos for Brits, with six-hour queues and even missed flights, particularly over the summer. It looked like the situation would only get worse with EU countries being told they can no longer pause the systems to relieve queues – however some countries like France and Portugal have gone against this decision. EES registration has caused a summer of delays and missed flights Credit: Alamy Countries have now reportedly been told they can pause EES From September 7, it was made compulsory for EES checks to go ahead without an option of being paused even for ‘exceptional circumstances’. Previously, EU countries had been able to stop systems for up to six hours to relieve congestion in airports. Sign up for the Travel newsletter Thank you! Some even had to shut down the machines that handle the checks, and turn them on again after they became overwhelmed. It’s now been reported that nine countries are delaying full implementation of EES, according to The Times. These countries are; France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland. The publication reported that these countries told the European Commission, which is responsible for overseeing the EES, that they would not enforce EES in full until the technology and systems were working correctly. Brussels then informally permitted them to do so in order to maintain ‘border fluidity’. The new system means Brits must register biometrics upon their first entry to a Schengen country. Most read in Travel But in some destinations the new process has resulted in lengthy queues with some travellers have even waited up to six hours in airports. Back in June, a number of passengers heading back to the UK from Athens in Greece even missed their flight. EES is a way of tracking who goes in and out of the Schengen Area Around 50 passengers were reported to have still been queuing when their flight took off to London Luton Airport. In April, around 100 easyJet passengers also missed a flight from Milan to Manchester Airport because of delays at passport desks. Ryanair has since called on the EU to extend the allowance of suspending EES until next year, calling the rollout a “shambles”. The major airline pointed out 16 airports that it calls “recurring EES hotspots”, which have consistently flagged excessive delays due to slow processing. This includes popular islands like Tenerife and Lanzarote – where one Travel Reporter spent 3-hours getting out of the airport. Brits have been warned to leave extra time at the airport to account for delays due to the EES requirement. Sun Travel has reached out to the European Commission for comment. Here are Sun Travel's top tips for those who could be caught up in EES delays... You might not be able to beat the EES queues – but here are our seven ways to make it a little easier… Book a seat at the front of the plane. If you want to get to border control before the rest of the passengers on your flight, then by being at the front, you’ll be able to get off first. When you’re booking, it might ease wait times if you go head out on one of the first flights of the day There are generally fewer scheduled flights and they experience less disruption. So if you get an early flight, there’s less likely to be a backlog. If you are taking a connecting flight, we’d advise to anticipate delays Of course this varies from airport to airport, but some travellers might find it will take longer to get through because of the EES requirements. If you can go to a bigger airport and take a longer road transfer, it could be worth it. At a larger airport there’s likely to be more EES machines than at one of the smaller ones. If you have children, or are generally just bored of queues (and who can blame you?) – think about entertainment. It could be worth setting the kids up with an iPad or something that will keep them occupied. For those who are disabled, make sure to let the airline know in advance as you would usually. After landing, staff should escort you straight through to the front of border control queues. Quite simply, if you are going to be waiting in line for hours, then you want to be comfortable. So before landing, go to the toilet on the plane. Comment now