EU admits rollout of new border system that created hours-long queues for Brits was disastrous

The EU has filed a lawsuit against IBM and two European companies over its troubled border-management system, an internal document has revealed.

Launched in October 2025, the system has been plagued by software and hardware glitches leading to widespread disruption at airports, with customers trapped in long queues. 

Some passengers at peak times have missed their flights due to delays blamed on the new technology and not enough staff at the border. 

The EU agency overseeing the rollout, EU-Lisa, sued US tech company IBM, French IT group Atos and Italian defence contractor Leonardo, the three members of a consortium responsible for implementing and maintaining the EU’s entry/exit system.

The lawsuit alleges the consortium repeatedly missed deadlines and disputed the agency’s warnings and fines, according to internal communications seen by the Financial Times.

The agency’s move to sue the companies was disclosed in its latest annual accounts, which stated that the lawsuit was 'following the various delays in the delivery of the EES [Entry/Exit System] by a contracting consortium'.

The new EES requires passengers from outside the bloc to submit their fingerprints and photographs when first entering the Schengen area in an effort to identify travellers who overstay their visas or are wanted by authorities.

The Schengen area of free movement spans 29 European countries, most of them EU members apart from Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Hubs such as Rome Fiumicino Airport have faced long queues, with the airport's boss saying wait times at passport control have tripled

Lengthy queues seen at Faro Airport in south Portugal after the new EES system was put into place

The security checks apply to people who are not citizens of one of the 29 Schengen countries, Ireland or Cyprus.

Originally scheduled to roll out in 2022, the system was fully launched only this year and has faced significant difficulties. Fingerprint scanners have malfunctioned when smeared with sweat, causing hours-long queues at European airports, and some EU countries are yet to acquire the scanners. 

Regular outages of the system have also caused some passengers travelling at peak times to miss their flights.

EU-Lisa confirmed in its annual accounts published in July this year that it had filed a lawsuit in Estonia, where it has its headquarters, on December 22, 2025. 

A spokesman for Estonia’s Harju county court – the nation's biggest district court – confirmed that the civil case had been lodged with them. 

No hearings have taken place or been scheduled, they said. 

The FT quoted the agency as saying it had no comment on the legal case and noting it had 'no impact on the functioning of the EES, which is fully operational across Europe'.

The European Commission insisted that the lawsuit was about the 'delays in the delivery of the EES at the time of the system development' and was 'not related to the operation of the EES'. 

Letters between EU-Lisa and the consortium, seen by the FT, show disagreements about missed deadlines and fines that go back multiple years.

In one letter from October 2021, Atos Belgium and IBM Belgium questioned 'both the principle... and the calculation' of a fine that had been imposed, claiming that the delays were the result of 'external factors' such as the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In February 2022, the three companies challenged new deadlines set by EU-Lisa. 'Ignoring reality is not prudent and will not help to achieve the plan,' the consortium wrote. 'On the contrary, working with an unrealistic plan will cause frustration for all stakeholders.'

The companies also criticised the EU agency’s 'overall governance'. 

The new EES requires passengers from outside the bloc to submit their fingerprints and photographs when first entering the Schengen area. Pictured: Queues outside Crete airport

A representative for IBM agreed to EU-Lisa withholding certain payments until the issue of damages was settled, according to a letter from March 2022.

In its 2022 accounts, EU-Lisa described experiencing 'difficulties with the consortium' and said it was assessing 'additional costs' caused by the delays, which also pushed back other IT systems. 

This came after the total contract value had already been increased from €142million to €212million in 2021.

A year later, the agency claimed in its annual accounts that the delays had 'increased the budgetary needs for the implementation' of the system, including by raising hardware and software maintenance costs. 

EU-Lisa almost doubled the EES budget in 2023 to €40million by reallocating funds from other projects, the accounts reveal.

Last year, the contract expired and a new consortium of companies took over the implementation of the EES, though Atos, Leonardo and IBM remained in charge until August, according to the agency.

The rollout also faced allegations of cyber security risks following an FT report which claimed Atos had used its Moscow office to procure software for the border system. 

EU-Lisa said no security breaches had been identified.

The European Anti-Fraud Office, known as OLAF, found 'sufficient elements' to justify further investigation and said the allegations of Russian involvement, if proven, would breach the contract. 

But it referred the case back to EU-Lisa, despite allegedly describing the agency’s initial assessment as 'insufficient'.

The Daily Mail contacted IBM, Atos and Leonardo for comment.