EU sues IBM, Atos and Leonardo over delays to its Entry/Exit border system

A lawsuit over development delays

The EU agency eu-LISA, which oversees the Entry/Exit System (EES), has sued IBM, the French IT group Atos and the Italian defence company Leonardo. The Financial Times reported the case on Monday, 9 November, citing internal communications it had seen. The consortium was contracted to build and maintain the system, and the suit centres on delays during that development phase.

Missed deadlines and disputed penalties

The consortium is accused of missing deadlines again and again and of challenging warnings and fines issued by the agency. Letters between the two sides, seen by the FT, show disagreements that stretch back several years, including one dated October 2021. The system was originally due to launch in 2022, but it only reached full rollout in 2026. Its start was marked by software and hardware faults. Fingerprint scanners failed when fingers were sweaty, which led to hours-long queues at airports across Europe, and some EU countries still have to acquire the scanners.

The agency and the Commission respond

eu-LISA told the FT that the lawsuit has no effect on how the EES works and that the dispute concerns delays in development. The agency's annual accounts, published in July, confirmed that the case was filed in December 2025 and explained the agency's reasoning:

“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 interests.”

The European Commission said the case concerned delays in delivering the EES during development and was not related to the system's operation. eu-LISA declined to comment further on the legal matter, and the case has not yet had a hearing.

Scope of the contract and the companies

In 2019 eu-LISA awarded the main EES contract to a consortium of IBM Belgium, Atos Belgium and Leonardo, a six-year deal covering implementation and maintenance of the central system. The system requires travellers from outside the bloc to have their fingerprints and photographs taken on first entry to the Schengen area, which includes 29 countries. It aims to identify visa overstayers and people wanted by authorities. Leonardo and Atos declined to comment on the proceedings, and IBM did not respond to a request for comment.