The civil lawsuit targets contractors over long-standing delivery issues that plagued the biometric border network, which scans fingerprints and photos across 29 nations. Technical setbacks, including fingerprint scanners malfunctioning when exposed to perspiration, triggered massive airport lines and pushed the original contract value from €142 million to €212 million. Although a new consortium assumed control in August, the contractors face scrutiny over missed targets that nearly doubled annual agency maintenance spending. Parallel European anti-fraud inquiries are also evaluating whether Atos breached contract terms by using its Moscow office for software procurement.
Key points
The legal dispute will have no operational impact on the biometric Entry/Exit System now…: The legal dispute will have no operational impact on the biometric Entry/Exit System now running across the Schengen area.
Contractor consortium responsibilities ended in August when a newly appointed group offic…: Contractor consortium responsibilities ended in August when a newly appointed group officially took over the project's ongoing implementation.
Escalating technical glitches and maintenance requirements forced EU-Lisa to nearly doubl…: Escalating technical glitches and maintenance requirements forced EU-Lisa to nearly double its annual budget to €40 million in 2023.
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The European Union’s border technology agency has sued IBM, France’s biggest IT company Atos and Italy’s Leonardo over repeated delays in developing its Entry/Exit System (EES). According to a report in the Financial Times, citing internal communications, EU-Lisa, which oversees the system, filed the lawsuit in Estonia in December 2025 after the consortium missed delivery deadlines and challenged warnings and financial penalties, according to the report.
The biometric border system was originally due to launch in 2022 but reached full rollout only this year. Its introduction has been marked by technical problems and hours-long airport queues across Europe during the summer.
Project derailed by hardware and software glitches
The EES requires travellers from outside the bloc to register fingerprints and photographs when first entering the Schengen area. It is designed to help authorities identify visa overstayers and people wanted by law enforcement. The passport-free travel area covers 29 European countries, most of them European Union ((EU) members.
Software and hardware failures have disrupted its introduction, including fingerprint scanners malfunctioning when covered in sweat.
Federal authorities have launched a national security probe into claims that businesswoman Alice Huang passed sensitive data to Beijing while collaborating with Nvidia on Asian infrastructure projects. The scrutiny intensified after company chief executive Jensen Huang acknowledged a personal affair with her, though he denied knowing of any espionage links. Nvidia's board is currently reviewing whether its leadership was intentionally targeted by foreign operatives, even as Beijing rejects the allegations.
The cloud computing firm has drawn intense international scrutiny following American inquiries into whether it helped divert restricted artificial intelligence semiconductors to Beijing. Suspicions expanded amid a U.S. probe into Nvidia chief Jensen Huang's personal ties with former managing director Alice Huang, an alleged Chinese intelligence operative. The regulatory crosshairs threaten the company as domestic and foreign authorities examine potential export control and legal breaches.
Fresh scrutiny over illicit supply chains has emerged after Jensen Huang acknowledged an affair with an executive tied to a suspected chip-smuggling firm. Chinese businesses continue to tap into banned computing power through regulatory loopholes in Southeast Asian cloud networks as well as unauthorized physical deliveries. The ongoing pressure accelerates Beijing's push to finance domestic semiconductor alternatives that could eventually challenge American technological dominance.