Key facts
- EU-Lisa said it submitted the claim to a court in Estonia, where the agency is headquartered.
- The three companies form a consortium contracted to implement and maintain the EU's entry/exit system.
- EU-Lisa said it activated contractual and legal remedies to protect its financial interest after delivery delays.
- The European Commission said it is not a party to the case and that the claim concerns development-stage delays.
- Airports have reported malfunctioning kiosks and outages that produced waits of three hours at peak periods.
EU-Lisa, the EU agency that runs large-scale IT systems in justice and security, has sued IBM, Atos and Leonardo over delays in delivering the bloc's entry/exit system, according to its latest annual accounts. The agency said it submitted a claim on December 22, 2025 to a court in Estonia, where it is headquartered. The three companies form the consortium contracted to implement and maintain the system.
In the accounts, EU-Lisa said that "following the various delays in the delivery of the EES by a contracting consortium the agency activated the available contractual and legal remedies to protect its financial interest". The agency said it had no comment on the legal case and that the action has "no impact on the functioning of the Entry/Exit System (EES), which is fully operational across Europe", the Financial Times reported. The Financial Times first reported the lawsuit.
The European Commission said it was not a party to the case. It said the claim concerned "delays in the delivery of the EES at the time of system development" and was "not related to the operation of the EES".
The entry/exit system was launched in October 2025 and adds security checks for travelers entering the EU from outside its border-free travel zone. Travelers' faces are photographed and fingerprints scanned before they enter the Schengen area, which comprises 25 of the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The checks apply to people who are not citizens of one of the 29 Schengen countries, Ireland or Cyprus.
Since the launch, airports have complained of malfunctioning kiosks and regular outages, with waiting times of three hours at peak periods. Some passengers at peak times have missed flights because of delays blamed on the new technology and a lack of staff at the border. The Guardian said it had contacted IBM, Leonardo and Atos for comment.