Commission rejects a full EES suspension for summer 2026

On 2 July 2026 the airline and airport bodies A4E, ACI Europe and IATA wrote to the European Commission warning of border queues of 4–5 hours or more across July and August, with roughly 40 million extra travellers expected. They asked to be allowed to fully suspend EES whenever arrivals exceed a border post's capacity.

Commissioner Magnus Brunner met industry representatives on 7 July. By 8–9 July the Commission had rejected a full suspension, calling it "not possible" and "not needed".

Separately, nine countries — Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland — wrote to Brussels the same day asking to extend the EU-wide flexibility mechanism beyond its 6 September 2026 expiry. The Commission has not agreed to that. Once the mechanism lapses, full EES applies everywhere, all the time.

On 4 July, Ryanair named seven airports it says are worst-hit: Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante, Málaga, Milan Bergamo, Kraków and Paris Beauvais.