The European Commission announced today that it had mobilized 25 Frontex agents and around eight million euros in infrastructure to support Portugal in border management, following problems encountered with the new EU Entry/Exit System.
“Regarding Frontex, it has around 25 agents in Portugalas well as document experts who help the Portuguese authorities in applying the rules”, said the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Magnus Brunner.
“There is also financing available and I think that, in total, Portugal has around seven to eight million euros for this purpose, mainly intended for infrastructure,” he added.
Speaking to Lusa at the start of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, in Luxembourg, the European responsible for overseeing the European Border and Coast Guard Agency highlighted that “Portugal is doing everything for the system to work.”
Two weeks after the European Commission had denied a relationship between aces queues at airports in Portugal eon (EES) of the European Union, and that the Government spoke of a European problem and not just a Portuguese one, Magnus Brunner highlighted that, “nevertheless, Portugal carried out excellent preparation work”.
A Frontex “aincreased human resources, strengthened teamsimproved IT systems and invested in their development and we are there to provide support. We have agents and experts on the ground to support Portugal”, he listed.
Frontex is the European Union body responsible for manage external borders of the Schengen free movement area.
At the end of last week, it was announced that Portugal activated the legal mechanism that allows suspend up to six hours the collection of biometric data at airports in situations of long delays in border control, which is possible until September given the adaptation period regarding the EES, a system created within the scope of the European migration pact.
“We created this measure especially for countries subject to greater pressure during the tourist season, like Portugal. Until September, Is it possible to suspend temporarily apply the system for six hours a day – this is provided for in the rules. After that, naturally, we must be prepared”, warned Magnus Brunner.
Government optimistic about a problem-free summer
The government said today that it is optimistic about a summer without problems at airport borders in Portugal.
“More boxes, more ‘e-gates’, more people, more trainingmore physical space – all of this meets the Government’s desire so that we can contribute our part in what is our community obligation, to apply the EES system and, therefore, we are optimistic”, stated the Minister of Internal Administration, Luis Neves.
Speaking to the Lusa agency at the start of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, in Luxembourg, the person responsible pointed out that “there will always be technological problems, which are still being refined”, however attributing the long queues to “works that were being done”, given that “a reconfiguration of airports” is at stake to adopt the EES, created within the scope of the new European migration pact.
“We will also work on the issue of signageand we are working to support those who,are not police officers, they will provide support to passengers to direct them to the space where they have to pass and, therefore, apart from technological issues, we are detecting some flaws and are correcting them”, he added.
“We see this operation from airport security and border crossing with a much more optimistic outlook than what we saw 15 days agoor a month, or two months”, he highlighted.
European Commission data sent to Lusa reveals that, in most EU Member States, processing first-time registrations takes, on average, just over a minute.
Since October 2025, when it came into force, almost 90 million entries and exits have been recorded in the new system, as well as more than 40,000 entry refusals due to false or fraudulent documents, of which more than 800 people have been identified as posing a threat EU security.
The EES is a digital system to electronically register the entry and exit of third-country citizens into the Schengen free movement area, replacing manual stamps with biometric and digital records.
It is anticipated that, in case of technical system failuresMember States may temporarily resort to alternative procedures, including manual registration and passport stamps, until normal operation is restored.
In recent months, airports in Lisbon, Porto and Faro were registered. At Lisbon airport, there were hours of waiting, thousands of stranded passengers, blocked corridors, and missed flights.
