Tourists heading to Europe face 'serious delays' unless new border system delayed

A Lords committee has warned the government of “serious delays for passengers” at London St Pancras, the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone and the Port of Dover unless the European Union postpones the launch of its entry/exit system (EES) later this year.

- SIMON CALDER

After the vote to leave the EU, the UK negotiated for British travellers to become “third-country nationals” facing a range of frontier hurdles, including the new electronic border system – currently planned for October or November 2024.

Every British visitor to the EU and wider Schengen area must provide prints from the four fingers on their right hand as well as a facial biometric. The process, which must be supervised by a European frontier official, will sharply increase the processing time at ports, rail terminals and airports.

The justice and home affairs committee of the House of Lords is calling on the government to “use all diplomatic efforts” to persuade Brussels to defer the introduction. The cross-party committee says travel disruption could be reduced by the use of an EU smartphone app that is under development. It would allow at least the facial biometric and the traveller’s personal data to be registered ahead of reaching the border.

The committee chair, Don Foster, has written to Tom Pursglove, minister for legal migration and the border, asking him to “encourage the EU to delay the introduction of the EES until a smartphone application for pre-registration is ready”.

The letter says: “In the absence of a smartphone application to capture in advance information required for the EES (including facial image), we believe there is a significant chance of serious delays for passengers, and disruption in Kent.”

Airline passengers with British passports will undergo the formalities on arrival in the EU, with some nations estimating the requirement will quadruple the time taken to process each traveller.