Why EU introduced a new entry system and what problems it created for Ukrainians

On 12 October, the European Union launched a fundamentally new technical Entry/Exit System (EES) for foreigners.

This system was not designed specifically against Ukrainians, nor was it developed because of them.

However, it will cause the most difficulties for our fellow citizens travelling between Ukraine and the EU at the initial stage.

Read more about the reform and the problems Ukrainians have faced after its introduction in the article by Sergiy Sydorenko, European Pravda's editor: A reform on the verge of collapse: what problems the first day of the new EU entry rules revealed.

Since Sunday, Europe has started implementing a unified system to record how foreigners cross the EU’s external borders.

It may be hard to believe, but despite the Schengen Area having existed for more than 30 years, there have been no effective tools to monitor border crossings. Each Schengen member state maintained its own entry database without sharing information.

Simply put, a Polish border guard had no way to see when a Ukrainian or any other foreigner entered the EU through border checkpoints in Hungary or France.

This created loopholes in Schengen’s border control rules.

Monitoring and recording crossings of the Schengen border will now become a common European task. All visa-free border crossings will be stored in the shared EES database accessible to all Schengen member states.

Thus, EU countries aim to close certain loopholes and gain a better understanding of who enters the Schengen Area and from where. The use of biometrics will further enhance security.

There are also advantages for Ukrainians.

First, since data on border crossings will now be stored in the EES database, passport stamps will no longer be needed. Those living in Ukraine but frequently traveling abroad will not have to renew their passports early because of pages filled with entry/exit stamps.

Second, the new system, together with its upcoming extension known as ETIAS, will make it possible for the EU to introduce fully automated fast border checkpoints, similar to those already used at some European airports for EU citizens.

However, there are very practical downsides alongside these advantages, which thousands of Ukrainians experienced on Sunday at the Przemyśl and Medyka border crossings.

The first day of the new rules caused significant delays. And it’s important to remember that in the coming months, these new procedures will be extended to the entire Polish-Ukrainian border, not just the two "experimental" checkpoints. If things continue as they did on 12 October, the consequences could be much more serious.

Failures on the Polish government’s part to prepare for these changes are glaringly obvious.

First, the "special scanning" was conducted for everyone crossing under visa-free travel, even for those who had previously submitted biometric data. This means that the data collected in recent months was effectively discarded, at least on the first day, the Polish side didn’t use it.

Second, on 12 October it turned out that the newly purchased scanning devices didn’t work properly with the new system.

Everything now depends on how and when Warsaw corrects these mistakes and whether it will rush to connect additional border checkpoints to the "experiment."

As for other EU countries, they too are in no hurry to fully roll out the system.

Nevertheless, everyone must complete the transition by April.