Greece has moved to exempt British passport holders from the European Union’s new biometric border entry system, offering a significant reprieve for the hundreds of thousands of UK holidaymakers expected to fly to the country this summer, even as travellers heading elsewhere in Europe brace for potentially lengthy delays at passport control.
The EU’s Entry and Exit System, known as EES, became fully operational on 10 April. Designed to replace physical passport stamps with a digital record, it requires all non-EU nationals — including British citizens following Brexit — to have their fingerprints taken and photographs recorded at border points upon their first entry into the bloc. The data is then stored for subsequent visits, at which point only verification is needed, theoretically speeding up the process over time.
In practice, however, the rollout has already caused disruption. Travellers have reported queues of up to two hours at passport control in countries where the system began operating late last year, and airline groups have warned that those waits could extend to four hours as passenger volumes build through the peak summer season. Industry body Abta has advised customers to come prepared for delays, with its director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge telling travellers to bring “extra water and snacks” to the airport.
Against that backdrop, Greece’s decision to waive the requirement for UK visitors has been broadly welcomed. Eleni Skarveli, Director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, said the exemption would deliver a “smoother and more efficient arrival experience” and significantly reduce waiting times — a particularly pressing concern given that thousands of British tourists arrive daily at airports serving islands such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes throughout the summer months.
The move has prompted speculation that other popular Mediterranean destinations may follow Greece’s lead in order to avoid the kind of congestion that could deter visitors during the busy holiday period. For now, however, UK travellers heading to other EU countries should expect EES checks to remain in place, with the associated risk of delays compounded further by concerns over potential IT failures, staff shortages and industrial action during peak travel times.
The EES system applies to all third-country nationals crossing EU external borders, with self-service kiosks expected to be installed at major entry points to allow passengers to submit biometric information independently. Once registered, future border crossings should require only a swift verification check rather than a full re-registration.
