EES: 44,000 individuals refused entry to EU since launch
EU Commission will ‘redouble efforts’ to improve system issues following travel sector criticism of safety measure
More than 8,000 people have been refused entry due to issues with overstaying their allotted time in the bloc
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Border security measures under the Entry/Exit System (EES) have prevented nearly 44,000 people from entering the Schengen Area since October 2025, the European Commission has said.
The announcement comes in response to widespread criticism from travel industry officials over the rollout of the system, which they believe has hit a ‘critical point’ and will lead to summer holiday chaos for millions.
The sector is calling for the system to be more easily suspended over the summer period, and for long-term assurances that issues leading to lengthy queues will be resolved by the bloc.
The EU will ‘redouble its efforts’ to resolve issues with the system and aid member states struggling to deal with the new system, said European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner in a letter shared with the AFP.
The system “works well,” said Mr Brunner, and said many of the delays highlighted since the EES was implemented are due to issues such as "insufficient staff or lack of adequate infrastructure,” at airports, and not due to the system itself.
“The Commission will now make additional efforts to help those member states that still encounter issues,” he added.
Industry leaders point to setbacks and delays at airports across the bloc, which are only expected to worsen as millions of passengers head off for summer holidays.
The EU however has long defended the system as both necessary and an improvement on traditional security measures.
EES prevents thousands from entering bloc
The European Commission highlighted the safety benefits of the system, which was fully launched on April 10, as a necessary measure for the bloc.
Since its first partial launch in October 2025, the EES has prevented 43,728 people from entering the Schengen area, the Commission told media outlet Politico.
This is out of around 110 million people passing through the bloc’s external borders (including EU citizens, residency card holders, temporary visa-holders, tourists etc) since EES launched.
Of the nearly 44,000 rejected entry, 16,383 of those were found to be traveling without sufficient justification, and a further 8,739 would have been overstaying their allowed time limit in the bloc based on travel plans, reports Politico.
A report in May 2026 showed that at that time, nearly 7,000 people had been prevented from travelling to the bloc because they would have been overstaying their time in the Schengen area, reiterating calls for passengers to be aware of the 90/180 day rule.
Much of this period was during the phased rollout of EES between October 2025 and April 2026.
The Commission also revealed that more than 400 people were blocked from entering the bloc as they were trying to cross the border on counterfeit documents.
A full report is not yet publicly available, with the annual state of Schengen report usually released in May.
In May 2026, Eurostat revealed that nearly 400 Britons and Americans were refused entry to France in 2025.
