- Britons and other visitors from outside the EU will undergo fingerprint checks and facial scans.
- French officials fear civil unrest if the new measures cause delays.
France has warned that there could be “civil unrest” following the implementation of strict new border controls in the EU requiring British tourists to have photographs and fingerprints taken before entering the bloc.
“It is a challenge and we should not misunderstand it,” French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete told aviation executives, warning that “serious operational problems” could create queues of tourists at airports and lead to the “disruption” of the public order.
Vergriete said last week that preparations for the summer Olympics in Paris still took priority, despite alerting the Interior Minister to his concerns.
“We have little visibility and we have doubts about the number of police officers and the technology,” he lamented.
From October, British and non-EU passport holders will have to go through fingerprint checks and face scans under the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES). The system will check the name and biometric data of each passenger when they enter an EU country.
It will replace passport stamping, which began after Brexit, when the UK became a “third country” of the bloc, meaning it is not a member state and does not have the right to free movement within the EU.
French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete (pictured) said he was “concerned” about new automated border measures that will come into force from October.
British and non-EU passport holders will have to go through fingerprint checks and face scans under the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES). (File photo)
“I can’t say that we are not working hard to ensure that we are as operational as possible,” he told the French National Federation of Aviation and its Trades (FNAM) conference.
“I can’t say that the collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior is going badly, that would be lying… but I fear that problems will arise.”
The Transport Minister said he had asked the EU for a delay in implementing the new system, but fears this is unlikely.
It was scheduled to come into force before the 2024 Paris Olympics, but has since been delayed.
“I’m even going to ask for a new postponement, but it seems difficult to get it from the European authorities,” Vergriete added.
“We will do everything possible to arrive on time and we are all aware that things are not going to go completely well.”
Vergriete is not the prime minister to express concern about the new e-gate system.
Lord Cameron, James Cleverly and Mark Harper have expressed concerns about the new system to French ministers, pointing out that the changes could cause travel chaos, the Telegraph previously reported.
Queues at the port of Dover, one of the places where the new border controls will be implemented
People queue for Eurostar train services at St Pancras International Station as they make their Easter break in London, Britain, March 29, 2024.
Each time visitors attempt to cross to the mainland they must show a facial image and provide four fingerprints.
A senior government source familiar with discussions over the new controls told the newspaper: “The main risk is that we will be in the hands of the French in those places where there will be disruption on British soil.”
Lord Cameron previously said he was “really concerned” about the delays and said the technology “still needs to be tested and improved”, while pointing to “choke points” at Dover and St Pancras.
Airlines will be concerned that tourists will face serious delays in both departures and arrivals.
Meanwhile, Eurotunnel estimates that the average car processing time in Dover will increase from less than a minute to up to seven minutes, partly because visitors will not be able to check their passports at the windows and will instead have to exit the vehicles. and use the electronic gates.
