Dover port, Eurostar services and Eurotunnel face the threat of border delays due to post-Brexit new digital checks, a minister is warning.
Home Office minister Seema Malhotra stressed that Britain is insufficiently prepared for the European Union’s new post-Brexit border security checks for UK nationals entering the bloc and disruption is likely when they are introduced in late autumn.
Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016 and formally left the bloc’s single market in 2021.
The EU’s European Entry/Exit System (EES) will remove the requirement to manually stamp passports at the EU’s external border and instead create digital records that link a travel document to a person’s identity using biometrics.
It will require non-EU citizens arriving in a Schengen area destination (most EU countries) to register their fingerprints, provide a facial scan and answer questions about their stay.
On departure, travellers’ details will be checked against the EES database to confirm compliance with existing rules on time limits of stay and register departure.
Sir Keir Starmer’s new government said it was supportive of the aims of the EES but not content with the level of preparations put in place by the previous Conservative administration.
“The system will increase processing times at Schengen area border crossing points, and insufficient progress has been made on ensuring that these impacts are minimised – with disruption likely when the scheme is introduced,” Ms Malhotra, MP for Feltham and Heston, told Parliament.
She said this was particularly of concern for journeys involving travel through the UK’s three ports with so called “juxtaposed” frontier controls, Eurostar at London St Pancras, Eurotunnel in Folkestone, and the Port of Dover, where EES registration will be required on departure from the UK, conducted by French officials.
Ms Malhotra stressed that the Government is taking steps to improve preparations and levels of readiness, given that already since Brexit Britons have faced delays to travel to the Continent and enter EU countries.
These measures include:
- Expanding the French border control zone at the Port of Dover to reduce the risk of queues at peak times
- Working closely with the French government on implementation plans at the juxtaposed frontiers
- Preparing communications to raise awareness amongst the UK travelling public
- Engaging with EU member states to lobby for a more pragmatic approach when the new rules are introduced
The minister added: “It is in both the UK’s and European Union’s interest to work together on our shared objectives to ensure we maintain secure borders, while also minimising any disruption caused by EES.”
Economists say that Brexit has already delivered a multi-billion pound blow to UK trade.
