EU: EES postponed indefinitely in 9 countries including France
The EES system is going through a fresh bout of turbulence at Schengen borders. The mechanism allowing nine countries, including France, to temporarily suspend biometric checks expired on 6 September 2026, under the Regulation (EU) 2025/1534.
Since then, however, these countries have continued to apply the entry-exit system only partially. No new official text has formalised this tolerance, which remains open-ended with no announced deadline.
EES system: the tolerance changes nothing for your obligations
✅ The legal mechanism expired on 6 September 2026. Nine Schengen countries, including France, had been granted 150 days to suspend certain biometric checks. That period is over. These countries continue to apply the EES only partially.
✅ Brussels is tolerating the situation without any new official text. The European Commission has published no act extending the derogation. It continues to describe the EU Entry/Exit System as fully operational since 10 April 2026 – which border crossings in these nine countries do not bear out.
✅ Biometric kiosks remain offline at several airports and ports. British nationals and third-country nationals in international mobility continue to go through manual passport checks rather than EES registration in these nine countries.
This tolerance does not cancel the legal requirement for biometric registration. The EES rules and the 90-day-in-180 calculation remain fully applicable, even without systematic biometric processing.
In practice, the situation differs depending on whether you look at border practice or the applicable legal text. The table below summarises the two stages of this shift.
EES: before and after 6/09
| Aspect | Before 6/09 | Since 6/09 |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Regulation 2025/1534 | Informal tolerance |
| Duration | Fixed 150 days | No fixed deadline |
| Official EES status | Gradual rollout | “Fully operational” |
This instability echoes disruptions already seen this summer, when the system caused delays of up to 5 hours at Schengen borders. It also comes as ETIAS, the future travel authorisation system, has itself been [pushed back to 2027].
For Mobility teams, the distinction between EES and ETIAS, two different but complementary schemes, remains a point worth keeping in mind.
For short stays: 3 checks before departure
- Check on a case-by-case basis the type of control applied in the destination country, as practice still varies from one airport to another
- Continue to keep precise records of entry and exit dates for your non-EU employees, to ensure accurate tracking of the 90-day-in-180 rule
- Monitor EES and ETIAS timeline updates ahead of every mission, as no deadline is currently guaranteed
Your employees move between countries with different rules. Our experts cover 150+ countries and 650+ procedures a year.
Frequently Asked Questions
The EES electronically records the entries, exits and refusals of entry of third-country nationals at the external borders of the Schengen area, replacing the passport stamp.
In the nine countries concerned, biometric checks are not systematic, but the 90-day-in-180 residence rules remain unchanged and enforceable.
The ETIAS travel authorisation, separate from the EES, has been pushed back to 2027 according to the latest European announcements.
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