The European Union’s IT agency, EU-Lisa, filed a lawsuit against IBM, the French firm Atos, and Italian defence contractor Leonardo in December 2025. These three companies formed the consortium responsible for implementing and maintaining the Entry/Exit System (EES), which launched in October 2025. The legal action was revealed in the agency’s latest annual accounts, which stated that it "activated the available contractual and legal remedies to protect its financial interest" following various delays in delivery. A claim was submitted on 22 December 2025 to a court in Estonia, where EU-Lisa is headquartered. The Financial Times first reported the case, quoting the agency as saying it had no comment on the legal proceedings.
Operational failures at the border
Since its launch, the EES has been beset by problems that clearly undermine its utility. Airports have complained of malfunctioning kiosks and regular outages, leading to waiting times of up to three hours at peak periods. Some passengers missed their flights because of these delays, which were blamed on the new technology and a lack of staff at the border. The system requires travellers’ faces to be photographed and fingerprints scanned before they are allowed into the Schengen area. This process applies to people who are not citizens of one of the 29 Schengen countries, Ireland, or Cyprus. The Schengen area comprises 25 of the 27 EU member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Legal distinctions and agency responses
EU-Lisa noted that the lawsuit concerns "delays in the delivery of the EES at the time of system development" and is "not related to the operation of the EES." The agency insisted there was "no impact on the functioning of the Entry/Exit System (EES), which is fully operational across Europe." The European Commission said it was not a party to the case but acknowledged the issues regarding delivery timelines. The Guardian contacted IBM, Leonardo, and Atos for comment, while EU-Lisa has also been reached for further clarification. The system is managed by EU-Lisa, the bloc’s agency for large-scale IT systems in the domain of justice and security. Despite the agency’s claims of full operation, the persistent technical glitches suggest the rollout remains deeply troubled.
