EU Entry Exit System (EES) - New Border Process due to start in May 2023

[st13phil]

The EU's digital Entry-Exit System (more here) is due to come into force in May, having previously been delayed from a planned go-live in 2022. The system is being deployed in order to eliminate the physical stamping of passports at the point of entry / exit to the Schengen zone which seems fair enough. It involves the collection of biometric information about the traveller, including fingerprints and facial image which will have practical considerations for all of us at the point of entry and exit.

There are a few articles on t'interweb indicating that self-service terminals will be installed in airports at their border gates, but with just four months from the new process being deployed, I'm struggling to find out how it's expected to work at UK Ferry terminals and at the Eurotunnel terminals where border checks occur pre-boarding. All I've managed to find so far are expressions of concern from UK travel agencies including the operators of the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar, and a single reference to "For visitors arriving by car at France’s land and sea borders, tablet devices will be available to register your details", in this article:

Everything you need to know about the EU's new EES and ETIAS visas

The EES is set to be operational in May 2023 but several EU countries have said they are unlikely to be ready.

www.euronews.com

Does anyone have any further information on this in terms of what to expect in the way of facilities and processes for travellers to France on two or four wheels? The Eurotunnel website is - for the time being, anyway - silent on the matter and we'll be travelling through it in June...

 

[Neiltodd]

Also interested to know more about this for both Holland and France

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Also interested to know more about this for both Holland and France

Plenty of articles around describing the process for airports heading into the Netherlands and France.

The grey area is how they will do biometric to people rocking up in cars. Probably because no idjit thought it through early enough.

Getlink (Eurotunnel) has explicitly said that it doesn't have the space to install the necessary screening and facial recognition systems

Needs to be done, but if we aren't going to hear the sound of EU deadlines whooshing for the third time, they would need to be installing test equipment now, in the same way that they're testing proper "liquids" luggage scanners now before rolling them out at all ports.

 

[st13phil]

Plenty of articles around describing the process for airports heading into the Netherlands and France.

Yup, seen plenty of those.

The grey area is how they will do biometric to people rocking up in cars. Probably because no idjit thought it through early enough.

Getlink (Eurotunnel) has explicitly said that it doesn't have the space to install the necessary screening and facial recognition systems

Indeed. A quick "fag packet" calculation reinforces the view that no-one gave car (or motorcycle) transport much thought.

Getlink say that on a peak summer’s day they typically carry north of 600 cars per hour, so approximately 2,400-2,500 passengers. They estimate that about 65-70% will need EES the first time round (the assumption is that remaining 30-35% are either EU nationals or have travelled by air after introduction of EES so have already been registered), meaning they would need to process between 1,600 and 1,700 people per hour, and they just cannot create the capacity to accommodate that.

Needs to be done, but if we aren't going to hear the sound of EU deadlines whooshing for the third time, they would need to be installing test equipment now, in the same way that they're testing proper "liquids" luggage scanners now before rolling them out at all ports.

Exactly. Has anyone seen any new infrastructure being deployed at (for example) the Folkestone terminal? The fact that Eurotunnel's website is silent on the whole matter suggests that either the implementation is going to be delayed (again), or that there are going to be massive travel delays and complete chaos at all terminals dealing with vehicle crossings twixt the UK and EU countries.

Just to add, at the beginning of November - i.e. with just seven months to the implementation date - Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, told the Transport Select Committee that they hadn't been told the expected process or the rules to be followed, nor the technology involved, adding that “We need a sufficient amount of time to trial, test and train to use the technology before implementation – knowing early and then making certain that we’re getting as much lead time as we possibly can to ensure that we’ve got the right people on the ground with the right processes to make certain that it operates properly.”

Shambles.

 

[Neiltodd]

Got trips from Portsmouth to France and Spain and Newcastle to Ijmuiden booked so could be interesting/slow!

 

[Gollom]

Just seen this

The EES was expected to be operational in May 2022 but this date has been deferred to November 2023 due to logistical problems

This may be helpful too (application)

 

[clk320x]

Been across the channel a few times the last few months - by both tunnel & ferry… what’s wrong with the stamping system? Had zero issues.

I’m sure they’ll spend millions investing in the necessary machinery when countries are (apparently) short of money.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Yup, seen plenty of those.

Indeed. A quick "fag packet" calculation reinforces the view that no-one gave car (or motorcycle) transport much thought.

Getlink say that on a peak summer’s day they typically carry north of 600 cars per hour, so approximately 2,400-2,500 passengers. They estimate that about 65-70% will need EES the first time round (the assumption is that remaining 30-35% are either EU nationals or have travelled by air after introduction of EES so have already been registered), meaning they would need to process between 1,600 and 1,700 people per hour, and they just cannot create the capacity to accommodate that.

Exactly. Has anyone seen any new infrastructure being deployed at (for example) the Folkestone terminal? The fact that Eurotunnel's website is silent on the whole matter suggests that either the implementation is going to be delayed (again), or that there are going to be massive travel delays and complete chaos at all terminals dealing with vehicle crossings twixt the UK and EU countries.

Just to add, at the beginning of November - i.e. with just seven months to the implementation date - Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, told the Transport Select Committee that they hadn't been told the expected process or the rules to be followed, nor the technology involved, adding that “We need a sufficient amount of time to trial, test and train to use the technology before implementation – knowing early and then making certain that we’re getting as much lead time as we possibly can to ensure that we’ve got the right people on the ground with the right processes to make certain that it operates properly.”

Shambles.

Exactly ! I was clear that you knew what … was not going on. I was just piping up for Neiltodd, thinking that he might be talking about flying to the Netherlands etc. Which won’t have these issues / complications.

It would be absurd to try to implement this in the Summer when traffic is high. So presumably that’s what they’ll try to do.

(These are the numpties who operated just two passport kiosks at Dover on the first weekend of last summer holiday)

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Been across the channel a few times the last few months - by both tunnel & ferry… what’s wrong with the stamping system? Had zero issues.

I’m sure they’ll spend millions investing in the necessary machinery when countries are (apparently) short of money.

It’s all about more accurate face and fingerprint recognition systems. When they identify a terrorist on a camera somewhere they’ll hope to spot him as he goes through.

Although it’s FAR faster to go through the new automated airline gates than it used to be. (Another Brex** win). It’s still cumbersome that they have to physically stamp each passport and double check whether you’re planning to exceed the 90 days. So automation will make it simpler.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I love EU deadlines.

It’s that whooshing noise that they make as they fly by

Airports Council International Europe | ACI EUROPE - Media

 

[st13phil]

I love EU deadlines.

It’s that whooshing noise that they make as they fly by

Well, at least the chaos that will inevitably ensue for vehicle crossings is delayed until next year.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

September 2022 was the original deadline.

May 2023 was the revised deadline.

No date is yet available for the revised revised deadline, but probably another failure in 2024 and a fudge in 2025.


Statewatch | EU: Biometric borders: half the member states see "high risks" for Entry/Exit System plans

EU to Launch Biometric Entry/Exit System in a Few Months - SchengenVisaInfo.com

The UK's ports are the least of the EU's problems. The bigger issues are interoperability between the 27 states and biometrics on the Eastern Front.

Currently your passport has the physical record of your up to 180 visa-less days in the EU during a given year. Any shared database system has to equal that accuracy and instant availability at all borders.

 

[tonysmb]

Adding to their issues is that this was all agreed before BREXIT (remember that, the thing that nobody is allowed to talk about, that oven-ready seamless-transition thing).

 

[st13phil]

The UK's ports are the least of the EU's problems.

Agreed - but they are the bigger of the problems for the UK, not least because we transpose border checks with France for both Eurostar / Eurotunnel traffic and the ferry ports.

The bigger issues are interoperability between the 27 states and biometrics on the Eastern Front.

How the EU chooses to manage its external borders is, of course, up to the EU but their EES has all the hallmarks of a "great in theory / nightmare in practice" policy.

It seems that much of the solution architecture has been predicated on airport arrivals without much thought into crossings of land or sea borders with or without personal vehicles. Those EU / Schengen countries who have land borders with non-EU / non-Schengen countries have, it appears, been expressing serious reservations about the potential for huge delays at those land borders for a considerable time but - as usual for EU bureaucracy - those reservations were glossed over in the name of "the greater good". The rich irony is that even the air travel industry are collectively emitting sighs of relief that the scheme's go-live has been pushed back to an indeterminate future date.

 

[Dippo]

It's lucky this wasn't in place before Russia invaded Ukraine - how would all the refugees have managed to get out into the neighbouring EU states?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Agreed - but they are the bigger of the problems for the UK, not least because we transpose border checks with France for both Eurostar / Eurotunnel traffic and the ferry ports.

Eurostar? Why isn't Eurostar screening as simple as Airport screening?

From a private individual's point of view, car travel into the EU has been destroyed by the heavy taxes on fuel compared to low tax air travel.

Compared to two decades ago, I'm paying less for flights but twice the price for petrol. (And we're back to pre-Ukraine fuel prices now.)

 

[st13phil]

Eurostar? Why isn't Eurostar screening as simple as Airport screening?

Dunno. I’m just going on what they who run St. Pancras have said.

 

[Swotty]

There's a closer deadline for the UK. That is to say the end of the consultation period is the 1st March. Much wider context than just travel:

Consultation on draft legislation to support identity verification

www.gov.uk

It's going digital whether we want to or not.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

There's a closer deadline for the UK. That is to say the end of the consultation period is the 1st March. Much wider context than just travel:

Consultation on draft legislation to support identity verification

www.gov.uk

It's going digital whether we want to or not.

Tis a global thing. It's just a question of how long we can delay insisting on ID for voting, travel, benefits etc etc.

When I was a student, the NUS leaders were obsessed that public telephones in the student areas might be tapped by MI5.

These days, students tell the world where they are, what they're doing, and carry electronic devices that track and report their every move.