Ukrainians living in the countries of the European Union or planning to cross the borders of the Schengen zone should carefully read the decision adopted by the Council of the EU on July 18, 2025. It will not remain a purely technical element of European border policy, but will directly affect millions of citizens fleeing war, living under temporary protection or having family, humanitarian or work reasons for entering the territory of the European Union. It is a digital Entry/Exit System (EES), which will come into force gradually over the next six months. For the first time in the history of the EU, control at the external borders will go into digital mode, where every movement will be recorded, analyzed and saved.
What is EES and why is it being introduced?
The European Union is launching a large-scale digital transformation of border control. On Friday, the Council of the EU adopted a decision on the gradual implementation of the EES system – electronic entry and exit registration, which will work at the borders of Schengen countries. About this informs European Parliament.
This decision did not appear suddenly, but is the completion of a long-term process of creating a single information field between all countries of the Schengen zone, which began back in 2017. At that time, the legal and technical basis was laid for the creation of a centralized digital database capable of automatically recording all short-term visits by third-country nationals — that is, those who are not citizens of EU states. Now, after eight years of preparation, this system is finally moving from the theoretical plane to reality. And for Ukrainians who use the visa-free regime and massively cross the borders of EU countries, this is not an abstract technological innovation, but a direct change in the rules of the game.
In practice, the EES system is a centralized digital accounting mechanism that registers every entry and exit of a third-country national at the external borders of the Schengen area. Now, instead of the usual stamp in the passport, which the border guard put manually, the data is automatically entered into the digital database: the date of crossing, the border crossing point, the duration of the authorized stay, as well as the scanning of biometric indicators – fingerprints and facial images. All information will be tied to a person at the EU level and available to border guards, police and other authorized bodies in real time.
This means that every short-term visit (up to 90 days within a 180-day period) will be transparently recorded. And this, according to the initiators of the system, should be a safeguard against numerous abuses: from attempts to stay in the EU longer than the permitted period to manipulation of entry through different countries that previously did not have a single registry.
As the Minister of Immigration and Integration of Denmark, Kaare Dybvad Beck, who currently chairs the EU Council, noted, the EES system is designed to strengthen the external borders of the European Union, increase the effectiveness of border control and create a clear correspondence between those who entered and those who left. He emphasized that such a reform will be a decisive stage in the fight against overstaying and abuse of the right to short-term stay in the EU.
Why the innovation concerns Ukrainians
Since Ukraine is not a member state of the EU, citizens of Ukraine are officially classified as citizens of a third country. Therefore, all of them are automatically covered by the EES system upon short-term entry to Schengen countries — regardless of whether they are traveling for tourist purposes, returning after a visit to Ukraine, or simply crossing the border as part of humanitarian programs.
Even Ukrainians who have the status of temporary protection or have applied for international protection are subject to the EES in cases where this status has not yet been confirmed or when they cross the external borders of the EU (for example, from Moldova, Turkey or Ukraine). The system will automatically record border crossings, and if more than 90 days have passed since the last entry into the EU without proper legal status, the person may be recognized as a migrant violator.
This means that those Ukrainians who, for example, went to Ukraine for several weeks, should check their situation especially carefully before re-entering the EU. After all, the system will not make exceptions and will not take into account humanitarian motives or family circumstances. It works with dates and biometrics — without emotions and context.
Transition period and temporary exclusions
In order to avoid a collapse at the checkpoints, the EU has provided for a transitional mechanism that will last for six months. At this time, Member States have the right to launch the system in stages, according to the readiness of their infrastructure and technical staff. Until the end of this period, passports will continue to be stamped manually, and biometric data (fingerprints and photos) will be collected gradually.
Countries will also be able to temporarily shut down the system at individual crossing points if congestion or technical failure occurs. This means that the launch will not be instantaneous — within several months the situation at different borders may differ significantly. One airport will already have a full biometric check, while manual procedures will remain in the other. But eventually EES will be implemented everywhere.
Technical revolution or digital challenge
Despite the obvious logic and advantages, the EES system also has potential risks. First of all, it concerns confidentiality: all biometric and passport data will go to a centralized European database, which will be available to law enforcement agencies. Formally, it is about security and the fight against illegal migration, but it is impossible to completely dismiss the threats of excessive interference in private life or potential disruptions.
There is also the issue of adapting to the new rules for people with limited digital skills, such as elderly refugees, families with young children or those unfamiliar with the EU’s bureaucratic procedures. New technologies, if introduced without careful explanation, can create an even greater barrier for vulnerable categories of people.
What should be done now
Ukrainians who intend to enter the countries of the Schengen zone in the coming months should check their documents, days of stay in advance, collect all the documents related to the granted status or right of residence, if they are not citizens with a visa regime. It is important to have proof of temporary protection status or a certificate of asylum application with you, as these documents may be the basis for exemptions under the EES.
The EES digital system fundamentally changes the approach to migration control and registration of stay in the European Union. For Ukrainians, this can become both a convenient tool for simplifying procedures and a source of new challenges. The main thing is to be informed, monitor the changes, and not rely on the habits of the past, when the stamp in the passport could be put or not put according to circumstances. Now everything is decided by a digital system – accurate, strict and ruthless to errors.
