EU Sues IBM, Atos and Leonardo Over Years of Delays to Its Smart Border System

The European Union has sued IBM, French IT group Atos and Italian defence contractor Leonardo over repeated delays in developing its new smart border system, the Financial Times reported on Monday, 9 November 2026, citing internal communications. eu-LISA, the agency responsible for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area, has sued the firms. The Entry/Exit System electronically records the entry and exit of non-EU nationals at the bloc's external borders. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.

A system that was supposed to go live in 2022

The Entry/Exit System, or EES, records the movements of non-EU nationals at the bloc's external borders. The system was supposed to go live in 2022 but only reached full operation this year. The EES requires travellers from outside the bloc to scan fingerprints and photographs when they first enter the Schengen area, and registers non-EU travellers at the external borders of the 29 Schengen countries. Europe's new Entry/Exit System is fully operational across the region after a troubled rollout that triggered major airport disruption this summer.

The case, and the money

eu-LISA filed the suit in Estonia, where the agency is headquartered, in December 2025. A spokesperson for Harju County Court, the country's largest regional court, confirmed the civil case has been accepted, though no hearings have been held and none are yet scheduled. eu-LISA confirmed the litigation in its latest annual financial report, published in July, stating that it had "initiated the remedies available under the contractual and legal framework to protect its financial interests" in light of repeated delivery delays by the contractor consortium. In 2019, the EU agency awarded the core EES contract to a consortium including IBM Belgium, Atos Belgium and Leonardo. The contract value had already risen from €142 million (approximately $158.6 million) to €212 million (approximately $236.7 million) in 2021. The original consortium's contract expired last year, but Atos, Leonardo and IBM remain in charge until August while cybersecurity concerns regarding software procurement are under further investigation.

A dispute that stretches back years

The consortium disputed the agency's fines as early as 2021, blaming the pandemic and other outside factors. In an October 2021 letter seen by the FT, Atos Belgium and IBM Belgium contested "both the principle … and the calculation" of a fine the agency had imposed, arguing that outside factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, caused the delays. eu-LISA told the FT that the legal proceedings had "no impact on the functioning of the Entry/Exit System (EES)," adding that the dispute relates to delays in the delivery of the EES at the time of the system development and is not related to the operation of the EES. The European Commission likewise said the case covers delivery slippage during development, not the running of the system. IBM, Leonardo, Atos, and eu-LISA did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Sources

• Reuters — EU sues IBM and two European companies over troubled border system, FT reports
• Technology.org — EU Sues IBM, Atos and Leonardo Over Border System