EU-Lisa Sues IBM and Partners Over EES Delays
EU-Lisa filed a lawsuit against IBM, Atos, and Leonardo over repeated development delays for the Entry/Exit System.
The European Union agency for large-scale IT systems, EU-Lisa, filed a lawsuit against IBM, Atos, and Leonardo on December 22, 2025, in an Estonian court. The legal action follows repeated delays in the development of the Entry/Exit System (EES), which records the movement of non-EU nationals across 29 Schengen area countries to prevent identity fraud and illegal migration.
EU-Lisa stated it activated contractual and legal remedies to protect its financial interests after the contracting consortium failed to meet delivery timelines. The consortium of companies previously contested fines and deadlines, attributing the delays to external factors including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the European Commission clarified that the lawsuit concerns development delays rather than current operations, the EES rollout has faced significant technical issues. Since its October 2025 launch, malfunctioning kiosks and system outages have caused three-hour wait times and led some passengers to miss flights. EU-Lisa maintains that the ongoing legal proceedings do not affect the current functioning of the system.
