The EU launched a new entry/exit system in 2025, but it became fully operational in April this year, increasing the burden on travelers in the summer. In the new system, they are now collecting fingerprints and facial photographs of passengers, but this has resulted in massive chaos at the airports as people waiting in queues are missing their flights.CNN journalist Clarissa Ward’s video went viral as she said she missed her flight after waiting for two hours for her biometric data collection.Ward showed huge queues of people with non-EU passports who wanted to leave Lisbon. “I stood in the longest line I have ever seen in my life (no joke). This is all due to the EU’s recently updated entry/exit system, which requires biometric scanning for every non-EU passport holder. I saw a lot of elderly people and families with small children. Those who missed the connection. Others who missed their flights. I was included. Airport staff would only let TAP (Portugal’s main airline) passengers cut the line if they were seconds away from missing their flight. everyone else? Good luck,” Ward wrote.“Similar scenes have played out in many European cities since the much-delayed implementation began in October. Airlines are begging airports to suspend the new measures during peak summer travel. EU officials have called it a “digital leapfrog.” From where I was standing, it looked like a total cluster f*$k,” Ward said.Ward was trolled mostly because social media users said this is what happens when Europeans travel to America. One wrote: “Sorry friend, this is how the rest of the world travels. And yes, EES is a mess but the rest of the world is already used to queuing.” Another wrote, “Do you know what happens to us Europeans when we get to JFK? We wait. It’s part of the process. Stop complaining.”
What is the new entry/exit rule?
The Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated IT system to register non-EU citizens traveling for short stays (up to 90 days within any 180-day period) whenever they cross the external borders of any of the following European countries using the system. Non-EU citizen means a traveler who does not have the nationality of an EU country or the nationality of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.Full list of countries under this system: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.