Institutions

Biometric checks: delay in France, Belgium, Netherlands

15 September 2026·2 min read

Nine countries, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, have not fully implemented biometric border checks, requesting an extension for the EES system; some airports already apply it, others do not. The temporary suspension has ended without sanctions.

Biometric checks: France, Belgium and the Netherlands among countries lagging behind

France, Belgium and the Netherlands are among the group of nine states that have not yet fully implemented the new biometric border checks. Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Malta and Switzerland are also affected. All have requested an additional deadline to fully deploy the European Entry/Exit System (EES).

These delays were revealed on Monday 14 September by the newspaper The Guardian. The situation is not uniform across the territory of these countries. Some airports, ports and land border posts already apply the system, while others do not yet systematically carry out biometric checks.

The European rule provided that the possibility of temporarily suspending these checks in case of queues would disappear on 6 September. The nine countries are therefore technically in breach since that deadline. However, Brussels has indicated that no proceedings will be launched against the laggards.

In July, these same states had already called for the maintenance of emergency measures due to the difficulties caused by the EES. The current situation ultimately gives them more time to absorb the rollout, as they feared long queues at their main airports.

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