On the sidelines of the celebrations of the 631st anniversary of the Lisbon Fire Brigade, the mayor stressed that the new electronic passenger control system is currently causing “a major problem” at the airport, with “people waiting in line for hours and hours.”

“I think it is necessary, at this time, to suspend the electronic system because it is not working,” he said, stressing that the queues of recent days are “creating chaos in terms of entry” into Portugal, giving, “in essence, a terrible image” of the country.

Moedas highlighted that “the system is very important for Europe because it allows the identification of people, from criminals who should not enter a country,” but “the problems have to be solved” for it to work again.

Predictable problems

The mayor and former European commissioner stressed that he was still at the European Commission “when the whole electronic system process began” and, “at the time, it was already known that it would cause problems.”

“We have proof here that it is causing problems not only in Portugal, but also in other countries. But in Lisbon, the problem is at a level where it is necessary to suspend the system at this moment. Because if we don’t suspend the system immediately, and we are still at the beginning of what will be the summer season, we are going to have chaos here. That cannot happen,” he argued.

Carlos Moedas highlighted that the system “was not well designed internationally,” adding that the solution to solve the problems is “not only from the Government, it is also a solution that comes from the European Union,” which “has to step forward to resolve this situation.”