There are few things more likely to sour the beginning of a holiday – or an important business trip – than standing in a sweltering airport queue for two hours while officials fiddle with fingerprint scanners that refuse to work properly.
Yet this is precisely the experience that the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System has inflicted upon thousands of British travellers since its rollout earlier this year.
Against that increasingly chaotic backdrop, an intervention this week by Olga Kefalogianni deserves both praise and wider support.
The Greek tourism minister has done something that far too few European politicians are prepared to do: acknowledge reality.
Her argument is refreshingly straightforward. British tourists are enormously valuable to Europe’s southern economies, the current biometric entry system is causing disruption and resentment, and Brussels ought to rethink how it treats UK passport holders.
It is difficult to disagree.
The EU’s Entry/Exit System, or EES, was conceived in the usual Brussels fashion — grand ambitions wrapped in layers of technological optimism and administrative complexity. The theory sounded reasonable enough: digital registration, facial scans and fingerprint checks would modernise border management and improve security. In practice, however, it has quickly become apparent that Europe’s infrastructure is nowhere near ready for such a cumbersome process at scale.
Greek airports reportedly saw queues stretching beyond two hours after the system became fully operational before Easter. Smaller island airports, built to process sunburnt tourists carrying beach bags rather than masses of passengers awaiting biometric verification, were especially overwhelmed.
Kefalogianni’s response was admirably pragmatic. Greece suspended biometric checks for British visitors, reverting instead to the far smoother manual passport inspections travellers had used for years. The result? Delays largely vanished overnight.
Predictably, holidaymakers noticed immediately.
Travel agents have already reported increased demand for Greece, while rival Mediterranean destinations such as Spain and Portugal are reportedly feeling the consequences of continued airport disruption. This should surprise nobody. Most tourists are not selecting holiday destinations based solely on hotel prices or sunshine hours. Ease of travel matters enormously, particularly for families with children or older passengers.
The deeper significance of Kefalogianni’s comments, however, extends well beyond airport queues.
Since Brexit, much of Europe’s political class has treated British travellers as an awkward afterthought — tolerated, certainly, but increasingly entangled in bureaucratic procedures designed more for political symbolism than practical necessity. The EES regime embodies that mentality perfectly. Britons, despite remaining among Europe’s wealthiest and most frequent visitors, have effectively been shoved into the same cumbersome processing system as every other non-EU traveller regardless of context or history.
Kefalogianni is right to question whether that makes sense.
Britain sends millions of tourists to Greece each year, contributing billions to local economies. The same is true across much of southern Europe. These are not marginal numbers. Entire regional economies depend heavily upon British tourism revenue. To create unnecessary friction for those visitors is not merely irritating; it is economically self-destructive.
What makes the situation especially frustrating is that Britain’s relationship with Europe remains uniquely intertwined despite Brexit. Millions of Britons own homes, maintain family ties, retire, study or spend significant periods across the continent. Treating them as though they are entirely detached third-country visitors is both politically tone-deaf and commercially reckless.
The Greek minister’s approach reflects an understanding that tourism is, above all, about hospitality. Travellers arriving in Athens, Rhodes or Corfu should feel welcomed, not processed like potential security risks. That distinction matters psychologically as much as practically.
There is also an important political lesson here for Brussels.
For years, critics have warned that the European Union too often prioritises bureaucratic uniformity over common sense. The EES rollout appears to confirm precisely that criticism. The system may eventually improve, but launching it without adequate preparation at busy tourist hubs was plainly irresponsible. The fact that countries are already quietly relaxing enforcement illustrates how unworkable the situation has become.
Kefalogianni has demonstrated what competent government ought to look like: identify a problem, recognise economic realities and respond flexibly rather than dogmatically.
Other European governments should follow her lead.
Because if Europe continues treating British tourists as an inconvenience rather than an asset, travellers will increasingly choose destinations where the welcome feels warmer and the queues shorter. Greece appears to understand that already. Brussels would do well to catch up.
Main Image: By ΟΛΓΑ ΚΕΦΑΛΟΓΙΑΝΝΗ – ΠΡΟΣΩΠΙΚΟ ΑΡΧΕΙΟ ΟΛΓΑΣ ΚΕΦΑΛΟΓΙΑΝΝΗ, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63330053
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