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The idea of stop-less borders – seamless travel across countries without stopping at border control – has been around for over two decades. Initially imagined as a futuristic ideal to ease congestion and reduce wait times at border crossings, it was a response to growing travel demands and the strain placed on traditional border systems.
This vision was born from a need to eliminate the delays, risks, and inefficiencies associated with bottle-necked checkpoints, especially during peak travel periods or crises requiring fast cross-border mobility.
Today, one ambitious EU-funded project is putting this concept to test: PopEye.
PopEye aims to develop and test a fully integrated stop-less border system, from reimagined processes and improved identity verification technologies to the software architecture that ties it all together. But more than just a technological challenge, PopEye is integrating ethics, privacy, and fundamental rights considerations from the earliest stages of the R&D process.
“We evaluate the ethical and legal implications from day one, not as an afterthought” says Abdullah Elbi, PopEye’s Ethics and Legal Advisor. “This aims to ensure that the PopEye technologies respect travellers’ privacy and fundamental rights long before they reach the prototype stage.”
With both travellers volume and identity fraud and document forgery on the rise globally, border authorities face growing pressure to both streamline the traveller experience and protect people and their countries. PopEye explores whether these goals can truly coexist: designing systems that work for both travellers and the officers tasked with protecting them.
“PopEye is about redesigning the border experience. We’re asking: can we improve efficiency without compromising safety or rights? We believe the answer lies in smarter, innovation,” explains Bernhard Kohn, Project Coordinator of PopEye.
The project is now concluding its architecture phase, where the blueprint for the stop-less border system was laid out. It is entering its development phase, during which prototypes of the new system will be built and prepared for testing.
Real world validations will take place in Finland and Romania, giving the project team crucial insights into how the system performs under real conditions. The project will continue through to September 2027, culminating in an evaluation of both operational performance and compliance with ethical and legal standards. While PopEye aims to demonstrate the feasibility of stop-less borders, it will not deliver a ready-made, plug-and-play solution. Its purpose is to explore options, identify challenges, and inform future policy and technological development in close collaboration with authorities, experts, and citizens
For more information, visit popeye-project.eu.
AUSTRIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
HALMSTAD UNIVERSITY
IDIAP RESEARCH INSTITUTE
KU LEUVEN
VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL
UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE
IDEMIA IDENTITY & SECURITY GERMANY AG
NETCOMPANY-INTRASOFT S.A.
QUADIBLE GREECE IKE
EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR BIOMETRICS
INSPECTORATUL TERITORIAL AL POLITIEI DE FRONTIERA TIMISOARA
SISAMINISTERIO
