EU files lawsuit in Estonia over troubled entry/exit border system rollout

The European Union's IT agency has filed a lawsuit in Estonia against IBM, Atos and Leonardo over delays and technical problems linked to the bloc's entry/exit border system. The case concerns the rollout of the system, which was launched in October 2025 and has since faced repeated operational difficulties. According to the agency's annual accounts, it activated contractual and legal remedies after what it described as various delays in delivery by the contracting consortium.

EU-Lisa submitted the claim on 22 December 2025 to a court in Estonia, where the agency is headquartered. The lawsuit names IBM, the French IT company Atos and the Italian defence contractor Leonardo, which were part of the consortium responsible for implementing and maintaining the system. The agency has not commented publicly on the legal action, while the European Commission said it was not a party to the case.

The entry/exit system has been associated with missed flights at peak times and long queues at airports. Airports have reported malfunctioning kiosks and regular outages, with waiting times reaching up to three hours during busy periods. The problems have also been linked to staffing shortages at border points, adding to delays for passengers.

The dispute matters because the entry/exit system is part of a wider tightening of border checks for travellers entering the EU from outside the Schengen area. The system requires facial photographs and fingerprints from non-EU travellers before they are allowed into the Schengen zone. It is intended to strengthen security and improve border management across a travel area that includes most EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The legal case also highlights the complexity of large-scale public technology projects that depend on multiple contractors and coordinated deployment across several countries. EU-Lisa's decision to pursue legal remedies suggests the agency believes the delivery problems were serious enough to affect its financial interests. The Commission has said the dispute concerns delays during system development rather than the operation of the system itself.

What remains unclear is the current status of the court case in Estonia and whether the companies named in the claim have responded publicly. It is also not clear whether the lawsuit could affect future technical fixes or contract arrangements connected to the system. For now, the entry/exit system remains fully operational across Europe, according to the agency cited in the reporting.

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