Government provides £10.5m to three UK border points to tackle disruption from new EU system

The government announced yesterday (27 August) that it will provide three UK border points with £10.5m to support the implementation of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES).

The port of Dover, the Eurotunnel at Folkestone and Eurostar at London St Pancras will all receive funding ahead of 10 November, when they will be required to collect biometric data from passengers travelling to EU countries.

Migration minister, Seema Malhotra, described EES as a “significant change” to the EU border, adding:

“We are working hard with the European Commission, member states and ports to ensure we are well prepared and minimise any disruption for Brits travelling into Europe.”

New funds

The money will be used to build greater capacity to collect passenger data – fingerprint-recording and photographs  – thereby minimising expected delays in November. Earlier this year, Kent councillors warned central government that the delays could reach up to 14 hours in a “worst-case scenario”.

At Eurotunnel sites the money will be used to build and staff extra kiosks to process passengers, while at the Port of Dover, funds will help revamp an existing dock which will be dedicated to EES processing.

Transport minister, Lilian Greenwood, emphasised efforts to limit disruption:

“Since coming into government, we have been reviewing plans and closely supporting ports to make sure they have the right processes in place so that EES registration can be smooth and queue times kept to a minimum.”

Concerns

EES was initially slated for introduction in Autumn 2022 but has repeatedly been delayed.

The original 2024 start date of 6 October was moved to 10 November in July, with the delay including provisions for an emergency week-long extension to 17 November and a relief mechanism which would see officials waive biometric requirements if queues became too long.

Government and industry figures have raised concerns about the potential for border disruption. Former foreign secretary Lord David Cameron named EES one of his top European concerns after the war in Ukraine, describing Dover and St Pancras as “big choke points” when asked about the issue in front of the European Scrutiny Committee in May.

P&O and Irish Ferries both delivered evidence to the same committee earlier this year, in which they said the system posed as “existential threat” to trade, as well as tourism.

“[There is an] existential risk facing critical supply chains, businesses, communities, and the tourism economy of nations on both sides of the Channel from the current lack of appropriate regime for the introduction of the EU EES.”   

‘Quicker and more comfortable’

First presented to the European Commission (EC) in 2016 as part of a ‘Smart Borders’ package of proposals, EES is designed to introduce automated, self-service checks for travellers from third countries, ultimately making border processing more efficient.

The EC describes the new system as “quicker and more comfortable” than manual stamping carried out by an official and better able to detect instances in which travellers have overstayed or committed document fraud.  

While most checks on UK travellers will be carried out within the EU, the Port of Dover and the two Eurotunnel entry points are the only three sites in the UK in which “juxtaposed controls” are in operation, meaning that a de facto French border exists within the UK.