The launch of new EU post-Brexit border checks requiring British holidaymakers to provide fingerprints and facial photos is set to be delayed again, i understands.
Under the Entry Exit System (EES) non-EU nationals, including Britons, will have to register biometric details the first time they cross an EU border, meaning longer processing times.
Officials have warned of the threat of travel chaos when the IT system – which will replace manual passport stamping – is rolled out.
Dover is braced for delays of up to 14 hours, with Kent County Council warning jams could be “much worse” than 23-mile tailbacks seen in 2022.
The Port of Dover and Eurotunnel in Kent have now been informed by French authorities that the system will now be pushed back from 6 October until 10 November, i has been told.
A final hard deadline of 17 November has also been put in place, with no extension after that, with the date set to be formally confirmed at a Brussels meeting next week.
Meanwhile, fresh concerns have been raised that an app it is hoped would slash processing times for travellers will not be ready until beyond next summer, when it had been expected.
Toby Howe, tactical lead of the multi-agency emergency planners Kent and Medway Resilience Forum, told i: “What we’re hearing from the portals [Dover/ Eurotunnel] is that they’ve been informed that it will now be 10 November, as opposed to 6 October.
“But there is an EU Commission meeting at the beginning of next week where this will be formally confirmed.”
Mr Howe added: “We know the processing time is going to be a lot slower. So therefore it’s not rocket science to know that those delays we’ve seen occasionally we’re going to see far more frequently.”
France’s Interior Ministry is understood to have informed the portals, with the delayed date due to be made official by the European Commission at the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council on 22 July.
EES has already been delayed on several occasions, with the latest hold-up possibly called to give member states longer to prepare, Mr Howe said.
There are also fears disruption caused by the EES launch could last even longer as an app allowing holidaymakers to register their details before travelling will not be ready until later in 2025.
The European Scrutiny Committee has heard evidence that the app to cut waiting times at ‘“juxtaposed controls” sites, such as at Dover, Eurotunnel or Eurostar at St Pancras Station, is facing delays owing to the complexities of aligning it between member states.
But Nichola Mallon, head of trade and devolved policy at Logistics UK, said there were fears the app may not be ready until beyond next summer.
“There was a hope that the apps at the member state level would be ready for summer 2025, but there’s now increasing concern that that deadline won’t be met and that it is quite ambitious,” she said.
“We are only picking up what intel that we can, but certainly from Logistics UK’s perspective, we are becoming concerned that that timetable won’t be met.
“If that does come to pass, it really emphasises the importance of having the mitigation measures in place to try to ameliorate the most severe impacts of it.”
She added: “We really need the new Labour Government to accelerate diplomatic efforts with the European Commission so there are mitigations put in place to try to reduce the impact on freight, in particular.”
In joint written evidence to the European Scrutiny Committee, the Port of Dover, DFDS, Irish Ferries and P&O Ferries have previously warned of 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 Entry Exit System”.
Christian Wigand, European Commission spokesperson, said: “The roadmap for the delivery of the new IT architecture foresees that the Entry/Exit system will be ready to enter into operation in autumn 2024 and that ETIAS [European Travel Information and Authorisation System] will be ready to enter into operation in spring 2025.
“The exact date will be determined by the European Commission and announced on the EES official website well in time for the start of operations. At the moment we do not have a date to communicate.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “The EU are introducing a new Entry/Exit system in the autumn and the new Government is reviewing the preparations that have been made so far.”