Portugal and Italy will not suspend digital border checks for Brits

Reuters

Portugal and Italy do not plan on exempting British nationals from Europe's new fingerprinting and facial scanning checks, the European Commission has confirmed.

Recent reports had suggested the two countries were set to follow the example of Greece, which has effectively suspended biometric checks at its borders for British citizens in order to prevent major disruptions over the summer.

These reports were not confirmed by the authorities in either country.

The rollout of the Entry-Exit System (EES) has caused long queues at some European airports and sparked warnings that delays could worsen over the summer holiday period.

The biometric checks are required by the European Union's new digital system, which was first introduced in October last year and was meant to become fully operational on 10 April.

It requires most short-term visitors from outside the EU and European Economic Area to register biometric data each time they enter or leave the Schengen free travel zone.

Although the European Commission insists the system has mainly been working well, there have been widespread reports of travellers, many of them from the UK, experiencing very long delays at borders.

In some cases, large numbers of passengers have missed flights as a result.

Last month more than 100 people missed their EasyJet flight to Manchester from Milan's Linate airport after they were stuck in what the airline described as "unacceptable" passport queues.

Other passengers due to travel with Ryanair from Milan Bergamo airport to Manchester also missed their flight due to passport control problems, the airline confirmed.

These issues have already led to biometric checks on British citizens being abandoned in practice at Greek border controls, despite Athens claiming that it had "successfully started the full operation of the Entry-Exit System".

The Commission told the BBC it was "in contact with Greece to clarify the situation and recall the existing rules".

It pointed out those rules allow checks to be suspended for short periods at specific border crossings in exceptional circumstances, but do not allow "blanket exemptions for nationals of specific third countries and for an extended period of time".

The Commission was "also in contact with Portugal and Italy, as with all Member States, on the implementation of the EES".

It added: "The Portuguese and Italian authorities confirmed that they do not intend to exempt any nationality."

The changes to the EU's border system come as airlines grapple with skyrocketing jet fuel costs and concerns over ongoing fuel supplies ahead of the busy summer months.

Airlines have cut 13,000 flights globally for May, equivalent to 1% of flights for that period.

Holidaymakers have been urged not to change their travel plans as there is currently no fuel shortage in the UK and there are contingency plans in place.