[ad_1]
The date when the European Union’s new border system technology – the Entry/Exit System (EES) – will become operational, remains undefined, and a timeline for the coming into force of the same will be made known only in the following months.
The EU agency responsible for the managing the operation of large-scale IT systems, like the ETIAS, and the EES, in the fields of freedom, security and justice, eu-LISA, has confirmed for SchengenVisaInfo.com that the EES launch date has not been defined yet.
“…despite the progress obtained by the contractor in some critical areas, a new date for the entry into operation of EES cannot be firmly defined at this point,” the press team of the eu-LISA said, noting that such a conclusion was made at the meeting of the agency’s Management Board (MB), on Tuesday, February 28.
The Entry/Exit System had been scheduled to become effective on May 2023, however, the same has now been postponed, and the exact date when it will finally become operative, remains unknown.
In mid-January, during a meeting held in Tallinn, Estonia, between eu-LISA’s Management Board, it was noted that the planned entry into operation of May 2023 is considered no longer possible due to delays on the contractors’ side, and a revised timeline would be presented for approval to the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council in June.
The MB had only noted that the new target date would be set before the end of the year.
The delay of the EES has also caused the delay of becoming effective of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), which was supposed to become effective on November 2023.
The ETIAS has also been postponed to 2024and an exact date for its full functionalization is still unknown.
Commenting the issue for SchengenVisaInfo.com, Anita Hipper, the EU Commission’s Spokesperson for Home Affairs, Migration and Internal Security, has noted that since the ETIAS is being developed closely with the EES, it cannot become effective before the EES starts operating first.
“We expect that the IT system enabling the operation of ETIAS will be available in the course of 2023. The current expected date for ETIAS to be fully operational is 2024. The entry into operation of ETIAS can only take place 5 to 6 months after the entry into operation of the EES,” Hipper said.
She has also pointed out that the eu-LISA, has taken several measures to keep responsible those who have caused the delay of both systems, activating relevant penalties.
>> ETIAS Launch Date Postponement Will Not Affect Kosovo Visa Liberalisation, EU Official Confirms
[ad_2]
Source link