# EU’s €212M border IT project lands IBM and Atos in legal water

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/eus-e212m-border-it-project-lands-ibm-and-atos-in-legal-water/
- Published: 2026-11-10T11:01:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-10T11:19:46+00:00
- Original publisher: The Register
- Original article: https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/11/10/eus-212m-border-it-project-lands-ibm-and-atos-in-legal-water/5308669
- Topics: Europe, World

## Key points

- The EU is suing three firms over delays to its €212 million border system.
- The EES became fully operational in April after years of setbacks.
- The case concerns development costs and responsibility for delays.

## Summary

The EU has taken IBM, Atos and Leonardo to court over delays to its €212 million Entry/Exit System (EES), which records fingerprints and facial images of non-EU travellers. The case concerns the system’s development and has no effect on its current operation, but the dispute highlights years of missed deadlines, rising costs and disagreements over responsibility.

The system was due in 2022, began operating in October 2025 and became fully operational in April. Its contract rose from €142 million to €212 million by 2021, while eu-LISA’s annual EES budget nearly doubled to €40 million in 2023 to help meet costs including hardware and software maintenance. Estonia’s Harju County Court confirmed the civil case was filed in December 2025; no hearings are scheduled.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.