Blitz Bureau
The Labour government has decided to provide £10.5m worth of funding to prepare for new EU border checks this autumn. The Port of Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone and Eurostar at St Pancras will receive financial aid to help reduce queues for travellers, BBC reported.
New digital border
From the autumn, travellers from the UK and other non-EU countries will have to go through a new digital border system called the Entry/ Exit System (EES), which is being brought in by the EU. This will involve having your photograph and fingerprints taken. The government money will be spent on providing ports with the necessary technology to complete these checks.
The scheme applies to British people and other non-EU nationals entering a European country using the EES for a short stay. They will need to register fingerprints and a photo with their passport details to proceed with travel. Every time those travellers enter or exit a participating European country, this will be recorded. Once they have given their fingerprints and details, that registration will be valid for three years. During that time it must be validated every time someone crosses the border. This will replace passportstamping.
In most cases the EES checks will happen when you arrive at an international airport but if you’re travelling via the Port of Dover or an international train then the checks will take place in the UK.
The technology that ports will use to take biometric data of travellers has not yet been confirmed. It was previously suggested that a gadget similar to an iPad could be used to take fingerprints.
Queue time
Lilian Greenwood, Future of Roads Minister, said the government had been reviewing the EES plans to ensure “registration can be smooth and queue times kept to a minimum”. Each port is set to receive £3.5m of the funding, which is the first of its kind aimed at preventing EES-related delays.
Eurostar and Eurotunnel will use their share to pay for technology and staff training. Eurotunnel will add more kiosks if needed. All three have already invested tens of millions of pounds of their own money on preparing for the new system.
