EES Border Flexibility Extended for Alpine Countries

18th September 2026

France, Italy and Switzerland have been given extra time to suspend temporarily the Entry/Exit System, EES, biometric registration if queues become excessive this coming winter. The end of the flexibility…
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France, Italy and Switzerland have been given extra time to suspend temporarily the Entry/Exit System, EES, biometric registration if queues become excessive this coming winter.

The end of the flexibility period officially expired on September 6th and now clarification has been given.

The European Commission has given the three alpine countries additional time to delay full implementation while technical problems are resolved and border authorities work to maintain passenger flow.

No new deadline has been set.

The new system means most UK travellers need to have their fingerprints and facial image registered when crossing the Schengen external border.

Other EU/Schengen countries needing extra time are Greece, Portugal, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.