Holidaymakers face a year of “catastrophic” delays at Dover due to post-Brexit border checks amid delays to a European Union app aimed at cutting congestion.
Entry/Exit System (EES) checks involving fingerprints and facial scans are due to be introduced in October with tourists heading to Europe warned they face queues of more than 15 hours.
Jams could be “much worse” than 23-mile tailbacks seen at Dover in 2022, Kent County Council has warned, as travellers brace for yet more getaway chaos.
However, there are fears disruption could last for almost a year as an app allowing holidaymakers to register their details before travelling won’t be ready until summer 2025.
The European Scrutiny Committee has heard evidence that a rollout of an EU smartphone app to cut waiting times at ‘“juxtaposed controls” sites like Dover or the Eurostar is facing delays due to the complexities of aligning it between member states.
Greg Smith, Conservative MP for Buckingham and a member of the European Scrutiny Committee, said the delay was a source of “frustration”.
“I think the whole implementation of the EES could be one of those absolute catastrophic disaster moments,” he told i.
“Particularly for the ports that are going to have juxtaposed controls – everything will grind to a worse standstill than we’ve seen before, particularly around the port of Dover, Kent being turned into a car park.
“We know technology exists. Any of us that own an iPhone know that that carries within it some of the most sophisticated biometric testing.
“But the EU are ploughing ahead at 1,000 miles an hour to try and reinvent the wheel and come up with their own app.
“And you just wonder, how are they in this position that they’re demanding UK citizens go through the system to get into the European Union nation states, but the app is nowhere to be seen? It’s crazy.”
EES is set to replace passport stamping for “third-country” travellers to the EU.
It will require fingerprints and photographs to be submitted by non-EU/Schengen Area passport holders, including British nationals, on their first visit to the bloc or Schengen Area after the system is introduced.
At UK ports and London’s St Pancras Eurostar terminal checks will be carried out by French border control authorities.
EU member states would tailor European Commission software to create their own individual apps, the European Scrutiny Committee heard.
Nichola Mallon, head of trade and devolved policy at Logistics UK, which represents road, rail, sea and air industries, said their members were “very concerned” about the EES rollout.
An app would be an “absolute game changer” in terms of reducing disruption, she said.
“We need as much of the burden to be taken away upstream, so via an app where people can do it in their homes,” she said.
“If everything is required to be processed and administered at the border then you’re talking significant disruption and delay to freight movements or peak passenger periods.
“I think the fact that it hasn’t been fully developed, and it hasn’t been tried and tested and isn’t in a situation where it can be rolled out to ahead of EES going live is a serious concern.
“And it will cause disruption and delay to the movement of freight at peak passenger periods.”
The app currently in progress would not be able to take fingerprints, Mr Smith said, but having a digital tool that can store other personal details would still have a “massive” impact on waiting times.
“If everybody can pre-register ahead of arriving at a port with juxtaposed controls, that is going to stop everyone on a coach having to get off, or a single iPad being passed around the coach, while all 52 people plus the driver fill it in,” he added.
“It’s going be a nightmare for anyone travelling.I suspect it will be a nightmare for the haulage industry. If that starts slowing down then it’s going to be a lot of rotten fruit.”
In joint written evidence to the committee, the Port of Dover, DFDS, Irish Ferries, and P&O Ferries has 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 (EES)”.
Richard Ballantyne, chief executive at British Ports Association, said an app to allow travellers to pre-enter their data would be “very welcome”.
“Requiring people to do things at frontiers is where you run the risk of creating congestion and problems,” he said.
Kent County Council said it is “hugely concerned” about the potential impact of EES on local residents.
“In the summer of 2022, delays on the approaches to Dover caused long tailbacks, with tourists stuck in queues for over 15 hours.
“The impact of EES on tourist traffic crossing the channel could be much worse.”
A Government spokesperson said: The new Entry and Exit System is an EU programme overseen by the European Commission.
“The UK Government is working closely with the EU and member states to minimise any impact at our shared borders with Europe, this includes urging partners to make the app available as soon as possible.”
The European Commission was approached for comment.