Holidaymakers could face 15-hour queues at Dover
Holidaymakers face a year of “catastrophic” delays at Dover due to post-Brexit border checks and delays to a European Union app aimed at cutting congestion.
Entry/Exit System (EES) checks involving fingerprints and facial scans are due to be introduced in October. Tourists heading to Europe have been warned that they face queues of more than 15 hours.
Jams could be “much worse” than the 23-mile tailbacks seen at Dover in 2022, Kent County Council has advised, as travellers brace for yet more getaway chaos.
There are fears that disruption could last for almost a year, as an app allowing holidaymakers to register their details before travelling is not expected to be ready until summer 2025.
Parliament’s European Scrutiny Committee has heard evidence that the rollout of the app, which could cut waiting times at sites such as Dover or when entering the Eurostar, is facing delays due to the complexities of aligning it between member states. Greg Smith, Conservative MP for Buckingham and a member of the European Scrutiny Committee, said the delay was a source of “frustration”.
“I think the whole implementation of the EES could be one of those absolute catastrophic disaster moments,” he said. “Particularly for the ports that are going to have juxtaposed controls – everything will grind to a worse standstill than we’ve seen before, particularly around the port of Dover, with Kent being turned into a car park.
“We know technology exists. Any of us that own an iPhone know that it carries within it some of the most sophisticated biometric testing. “But the EU are ploughing ahead at 1,000 miles an hour to try to reinvent the wheel and come up with their own app.
“And you just wonder, how are they in this position that they are demanding UK citizens go through the system to get into the European Union nation states, but the app is nowhere to be seen? It’s crazy.”
EES is set to replace passport stamping for “third country” travellers to the EU.
It will require fingerprints and photographs to be submitted by non-EU/Schengen Area passport holders, including British nationals, on their first visit to the bloc or Schengen Area after the system is introduced.
At UK ports and London’s St Pancras Eurostar terminal, checks will be carried out by French border control authorities. EU member states would tailor European Commission software to create their own individual apps, the European Scrutiny Committee heard.
The European Commission was approached for comment.