The European Union has taken legal action against the American company IBM, the French company Atos and the Italian company Leonardo over delays in the development of the Entry/Exit System (EES) border control system. This was reported by the Financial Times.
The lawsuit was filed back in December 2025, but it has only now come to light. The European Commission clarified that the claims relate specifically to delays at the development stage of the system and do not concern its subsequent operation.
The EES is designed to register travellers from countries outside the EU and the Schengen Area. When they cross the border, their faces are photographed and their fingerprints are taken. The system is intended to help identify those who have overstayed their permitted period of stay or are wanted.
The EES was originally scheduled to be launched in 2022, but the system only began operating on 10 April 2026. As early as 2022, the EU agency eu-LISA, which is responsible for the system, reported difficulties in working with the companies brought in to implement it. By the end of 2021, the value of the contract had risen from 142 to 212 million euros.
The contract with IBM, Atos and Leonardo expired in 2025, but the companies continued to maintain the EES until August 2026.
The launch of the system was accompanied by numerous software and hardware failures. According to the Financial Times, airports in 15 countries reported serious delays. Passengers had to wait for hours to pass through border control, causing some to miss their flights and be forced to buy new tickets.
