The European Organization of Maritime Ports (Espo) made public their consideration about the many of the necessary conditions for the entry into operation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) that have not yet been met. The level of implementation in most countries is lagging, there is not enough information available on the deployment of physical infrastructure and new operating procedures, and not enough funding has been provided.

“The lack of available space in the ports limits the possibility of introducing the necessary physical infrastructure necessary to carry out the controls. Many ports already face bottlenecks when multiple passenger ships call at the same time, with existing staff misplaced and not sufficiently numerous to carry out checks related to EES go-live. In many cases, the member states do not meet the financing need for the deployment of kiosks, the adaptation of the existing infrastructure and the training and hiring of personnel” comments from Espo.

“Therefore, the delayed entry into force towards the end of 2023 would be too early for ports to prepare to carry out the necessary controls under the regulation, without hindering the proper functioning of passenger ports in Europe”, says Espo closing statement.

In general basis, terminal spaces where passengers embark and disembark are often not suitable for extensive passenger screening for security reasons. Specially in cases when passengers are traveling in vehicles, who must leave them in the port area to register their information in the EES system. Another problem is the typically lack of time available to carry out passenger screening at ports.

The first partial operational tests of the EES implementation carried out in French ports found that the EES controls for ferries add significant additional time for border crossings. The consequent increase in the time required is a very worrying issue for the sustainability of the commercial and operation model of ferry traffic.

In addition, simulations of the checks of two cruise ships in a German port have revealed that the “impact of the EES checks is unacceptable”, since passenger checks take several hours. The presence of juxtaposed controls at Dover and Calais represents an additional challenge in terms of processing time and required specific infrastructure.

As we covered in previous article, the EES system needs to be implemented before ETIAS. If the EES system is not up and running correctly at all fronts, then the whole project, including ETIAS, will be delayed. We´ll keep posting news about this end.