Why the EU’s biometric border won’t come before spring 2025

Good morning. One investor called it “the unlikeliest Trump trade ever”: Ukraine’s sovereign bonds have surged in price as investors bet that the incoming US president will achieve a quick end to the war with Russia and boost Kyiv’s capacity to repay debtors.

Today, Laura reports on the (even more) delayed rollout of the EU’s much-vaunted biometric border system, and our economy correspondent explains why more and more fake stuff is attempting to reach your shopping basket.

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Border bugs

Travellers don’t have to worry about extraordinarily long queues when entering the EU for a little while. The bloc’s revamped electronic border system probably won’t come into force before next spring, writes Laura Dubois.

Context: The EU has delayed the introduction of its new “Entry Exit System” after Germany, France and the Netherlands said that the necessary computer systems were not ready, and industry representatives warned of queues and delays.

The European Commission is now working on legislation to phase in the new system, which will require foreign travellers to register their fingerprints, facial images and other personal details upon arriving. It will also allow border police to immediately see whether and for how long people are allowed to stay in the bloc.

EU officials yesterday discussed different possibilities to introduce the system only in parts for now, according to several people briefed on the talks.

Options include implementing the new controls only at certain border crossings, for instance starting with small airports, or checking only certain groups of travellers, three of the people said. A third option could be feeding only certain data into the system, they added.

“The member states will have a certain amount of leeway in how to implement the different aspects [of the system],” said an EU diplomat. Another diplomat said that those member states that were ready could already implement the checks fully.

The commission was aiming to present something in the coming weeks, for the transition period to start in spring 2025, said two of the people.

But when the system — which resembles border checks in the US that have been in place for years — will be fully operational at all border crossings remains unclear. One option that has been considered is a transition period of six months, according to the diplomats and officials.

Chart du jour: Payback

Brussels has reinstated its strict debt rules post-pandemic. But economists warn that tightening the belt now could harm investment and weigh on growth, at a time when the EU is already struggling to keep up with the US.

Faking it

Bought anything online lately? You may want to check your purchases: Customs authorities have seized record amounts of counterfeit goods entering the EU last year, writes Paola Tamma.

Officials seized 152mn fake items last year either inside the EU or at its borders — 77 per cent more than the year before, according to figures published yesterday. The goods were worth a total of €3.4bn, a jump of 68 per cent in value.

Context: Customs and law enforcement are responsible for enforcing EU intellectual property rights both in the internal market and at the bloc’s external borders.

The main culprit when it comes to fake goods is China, where 56 per cent of seized items came from, followed by Hong Kong and Turkey.

Games accounted for almost half of the goods, then came toys, CDs and DVDs. Labels and stickers as well as packaging materials made up around 10 per cent of the loot, indicating that unbranded goods are being imported into the EU in parts to be assembled later — and to avoid detection.

“These figures highlight the importance of EU-level efforts to tackle counterfeiting but also the increasing challenges to legitimate businesses and the security of EU consumers,” EU economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, who is responsible for customs, told the FT.

He also called for progress on an EU customs reform, which includes measures to better tackle illegal trade and which is currently being negotiated by member states.

The EU’s Intellectual Property Office yesterday said that the steep increase in seized goods was the result of a strengthening of enforcement tactics, and higher seizures especially inside the EU internal market. In one single raid co-ordinated by Europol, more than 19mn items worth an estimated €79mn in total were seized.

Most items were detected in Italy, where 78 per cent of total items were seized, followed by France, Romania, Spain, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Belgium and Greece.

What to watch today

1. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte travels to Latvia.

2. European parliament votes on delay to EU deforestation law.

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