The European Commission has announced that it will start the first phase of its long delayed entry-exit checks at EU borders.
The Entry Exit System (EES) is designed to eventually ensure digital checks at all borders to the European Union’s Schengen zone plus neighbouring countries including Norway, Switzerland and Iceland.
Ireland and the UK are not part of the scheme, but Brits entering mainland Europe will have to submit fingerprints and facial recognition unless they have an EU passport.
The European Commission says the EES will modernise and improve the management of the EU’s external borders.
“It will provide reliable data on border crossings, systematically detect overstayers as well as cases of document and identity fraud”, the European Commission says.
Launching on 12 October, EU member states will have six months to put the system in place.
The Entry/Exit System marks a “step closer in making the EU the most advanced travel destination in the world”, said Henna Virkkunen, European Commission Executive Vice-President for Security.
Ireland and Cyprus are the only EU member states not part of the new system.
Ireland will continue with the current system of manual passport checks.