Commissioner Brunner calls for airport queues to be eliminated by Christmas — Politico Europe
European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner has called on EU countries to eliminate airport queues linked to the introduction of the Entry/Exit System before the next Christmas period. He specifically mentioned Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, where passengers waited up to five hours to pass controls last month, Politico reports.
Responsibility of countries and airports
Brunner defended the EU’s digital system that records fingerprints and facial images of non-EU citizens when they enter the Schengen area. According to him, member states had sufficient time to prepare, as they themselves agreed to the new system. The European commissioner called it a matter of security and said that responsibility for its proper functioning lies with EU countries.
The system began to be introduced gradually a year ago, and since April it has been fully operational at all border crossing points on the external borders of the Schengen area. At the same time, it caused lengthy delays at many airports during the summer: some countries switched it off during peak periods.
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Dispute over capacity
A representative of Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin, responding to the criticism, said that police fully staff all 12 workstations in the arrivals area. At the same time, he said the infrastructure of Brussels Airport Company can process only 500–600 passengers from non-Schengen flights per hour, while on busy days nearly 3,500 such passengers arrive between 6:00 and 10:00.
The airport said that all parties involved are working to reduce delays. It is testing new e-gates and pre-registration kiosks, training additional police officers and assessing the need for new infrastructure.
According to Brunner, the Entry/Exit System has already recorded nearly 230 million entries and exits at around 1,500 border crossing points. About 80,000 people were refused entry, including 2,000 people considered a security threat because of possible links to terrorism or organised crime.
