The new EU Entry-Exit system to be operational by the end of the year
The EU Entry/Exit System will modernize the EU’s external border management (Air, Sea and Land) and contribute to combating terrorism alongside other critical border management and security issue.
Regulation (Eu) 2017/2226 aims to improve the efficiency of controls at the external border of the Schengen area by creating a centralized Entry/Exit System (EES) for non-EU nationals crossing the EU’s external borders for a short stay.
The data collected will be stored in the shared register in the EES central database managed by eu-LISA.
In terms of timeline, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the new Entry/Exit System was to be operational in February 2022 but has been deferred until September.
Thales EES-compliant solutions
As a critical player in Border Management and associated self-service solutions, Thales developed a complete EU EES Border Management System, designed specifically to meet the European Union, National Border Authorities and International Airports functional and operational requirements.
Thales Gemalto EU EES Border Management System is a complete end-to-end solution for enabling secure, convenient and fast border clearance at the different border control points.
Thales proposes an EES Border Management system to enable Thales solutions to support all border control types (Self-service Kiosk, ABC Gates, suitcases, handhelds, and operated border equipment) for air, land, and sea borders mobile checkpoints.
Our customers can implement a consistent and centralized framework to secure borders by enabling the same checks and functionality for all border control stations.
Immigration officers' decisions are supported by information immediately available across all border points, no matter where it was first captured.
The result?
This cohesive and homogeneous approach prevents the vulnerability of any single point in the system.
Our complete Border Management Solution embeds a two-step border clearance
Thales BMS Solution enables a 2-step border clearance, using biometric-enabled self-service kiosks to perform traveler pre-checks and data collection and have the Border Officer handle the border clearance.
This “2-step approach” is even further accelerated by using the traveler's face as the identifying token when approaching the border agent booth.
The 2-Step process consists of a registration step, performed in self-service mode by the traveller using kiosk and a border clearance final step, performed either through a manual border clearance handled by the border officer or through automated e-gates.
New Thales Gemalto Border Kiosk, fully EES compliant
The brand-new Border Kiosk is designed to comply with the EES regulation requirements. It combines Thales’ expertise in document verification, passenger biometric capture and verification to ensure the best user experience and traveler enrollment quality for immigration. The EES Border kiosk offers greater flexibility thanks to its minimal footprint (only 35cm wide). It also provides greater passenger flow management and processes passengers faster. In less than a minute, the passengers’ travel documents are verified, face and fingerprint data are captured, and the required questionnaire is completed.
Thales Border Clearance Applications for fast decision by the border guard
Once a registered traveler goes to a stationary manual border control booth, the information pre-enrolled at the Kiosk can be retrieved immediately thanks to a Single Identity Token (or passport or fingerprint).
The Border Clearance application automatically identifies the traveler (live face capture through an integrated camera) and triggers the traveler‘s profile. The border guard can complete traveler border clearance with the dedicated web-based application and enroll the passenger into the EES.
Specific attention has been put to highlighting main information and alerts while making all data captured and all verifications performed during pre-enrolment and background inspection checks to the external system (National border management system, EES, ETIAS, Control List).
Thales Gemalto ABC Gates for a faster border clearance
With ABC, a bona fide traveler can pass the second step in seconds, making it one of the most efficient technologies on the market.
Automation of Border control can leverage an array of different equipment, from a two-door ABC gate or smaller one door gates.
Gemalto ABC offer is declined into modular ABC gates to provide airports and border operators the flexibility they need in deployment and operations to smooth EES.
> Download Gemalto ABC solution Brochure
Thales Inspection Platform/Back-end
A state-of-the-art software platform that provides the following main functionalities:
- Real-time and secure data communication between inspection applications such as Kiosk(s), border clearance application(s) and External Systems
- Automatic Recommendations to the border-crossing application according to pre-defined rules, i.e. thresholds or conditions (Decision Engine)
- Overall Business Logic and BMS workflows management centralized (Workflow service)
- Traveler Identity Management during the border crossing (Single Identity Token)