Brussels quietly lets nine countries keep pausing EES checks past the 6 September deadline

The EU-wide flex-mode mechanism that let border posts pause biometric collection during surges formally expired on 6 September 2026, and the Commission had publicly rejected a joint request from nine countries to extend it. But The Sunday Times reported on 13 September 2026 — corroborated by Skift, GB News and Biometric Update — that those same nine countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Greece, Malta and Switzerland) told the Commission they would not enforce EES checks in full until kiosk and connectivity problems are fixed, and that Brussels has informally let them keep pausing full checks anyway "to maintain border fluidity".

Unlike the mechanism that expired on 6 September, this arrangement is unofficial and reportedly has no fixed end date. Reporting attributes the continued disruption to persistent software errors: biometric kiosks and tablets have failed to transmit traveller data correctly, and border officers in some countries have been unable to pull up traveller files.

In practice this means enforcement now varies by country, by airport, and can change day to day — travellers should not assume either full biometric checks or a fast manual fallback at any given border post.