Ministers fear Brussels’ plan to force Britons to have their fingerprints scanned and photographed when entering the EU will cause travel chaos for UK tourists.
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 officials will carry out EES border checks at Dover for the Channel Tunnel and at St Pancras International for the Eurostar.
Lord Cameron, James Cleverly and Mark Harper have expressed concerns about the new system to French ministers, saying the changes could cause chaos for travel, Telegraph reports.
A senior government source familiar with discussions over the new controls told the Telegraph: “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, 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 reports.
File image of queues at the port of Dover, one of the places where the new border controls will be implemented, on August 26, 2023.
Rishi Sunak (R) was supposed to raise the EEA plans during a call with Emmanuel Macron last month, but the two leaders ended up addressing other issues. But he did speak to Ursula von der Leyen (left), the president of the European Commission who hopes to be re-elected next month, about the new controls.
Rishi Sunak was supposed to raise the EEA plans during a call with Emmanuel Macron last month, but the two leaders ended up addressing other issues.
But the Prime Minister spoke to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission who hopes to be re-elected next month, about the new controls.
Some nations have previously expressed concerns about how much time the EEA process will add to queues at EU borders, with the Slovenian government saying it will take “up to four times longer”.
In a report published last year, French public finance watchdog Cour des Comptes predicted that queues at the UK-France border will at least double when the EEA is launched this autumn.
The Port of Dover, which has regularly suffered long delays as a result of post-Brexit checks, said the new system could lengthen car inspections from 45 seconds to up to ten minutes.
In January, Ashford Council warned that the EES could lead to 14-hour queues at the port, with possible traffic jams along the A20 and M20.
Eurotunnel warned that it could take up to six minutes longer to process each car that boards its trains.
It will not apply to EU citizens, non-EU citizens who require a visa to enter the EU (as they would have already provided their fingerprints with their visa application) and non-EU citizens who reside in EU countries.
Despite fears, the EES will be introduced on October 6, just weeks before the school term and potentially right in the middle of a general election campaign.
Each time visitors attempt to cross to the mainland, they will be required to show a facial image and provide four fingerprints.
Personal data will be required, including name, surname, date of birth, nationality, sex, travel document and the three-letter country code, with children under 12 years of age being exempt.
Austria’s claims processing times would be “double compared to the current situation”, while Croatia warned that checks would “certainly be significantly longer”.
EES will cover arrivals to all EU countries except Cyprus and Ireland. Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are also adopting it.
Ryanair has warned against the EES, saying it would “result in significant duplication of effort” due to the high proportion of people exempt.
One of the reasons for delaying its introduction was next year’s Olympic Games in Paris, with bosses warning it could cause chaos for millions of passengers traveling to France.
But sources in the European Commission and the French government said there would be no further delays.
People queue for Eurostar train services at St Pancras International Station as they make their Easter getaway 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.
Approximately six months after the introduction of the EES, the EU will introduce the Etias, a visa exemption system similar to the United States’ Esta. This will cost €7 (£6) per person and will be mandatory for people entering the Schengen Area.
The EU has rejected concerns that ESS will cause chaos at borders and said it will actually save time.
The concerns raised by UK ministers are understood to focus on two issues.
On the one hand, they asked why an EU app that could make the process smoother and faster for traveling Britons (by allowing them to upload some of the new information needed from home) would not be introduced until months after the introduction. of the EES.
They also asked whether France would post more guards on the border with Britain for the Eurostar, Channel Tunnel and ferries so that checks can be carried out more efficiently.
While companies have already made adjustments, for example at St Pancras International, where 49 additional kiosks were installed along with a €10 million investment, more border guards are needed to carry out fingerprint scans and photographs.
This is an issue for Paris and London to resolve, and two ministers who appeared before a House of Commons committee yesterday said cooperation between the UK and France on the upcoming introduction of checks was working well.