estimated number of border crossingsmeans a Member State’s estimate of the number of border crossings by third-country nationals referred to in Article 2(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 for that Member State based on the yearly average of the total number of border crossings at the borders referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 by third-country nationals travelling to that Member State for a short stay, calculated for the 2 calendar years preceding the date from which the EES is to start operations as decided by the Commission in accordance with Article 66(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226.
national authoritiesmeans the authorities referred to in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226;
progressive start of operations of the EESmeans the period of 180 days starting from the date from which the EES is to start operations as decided by the Commission in accordance with Article 66(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2226;