Dover ferry and Channel Tunnel passengers may wait as much as 10 hours in British ports subsequent 12 months when the EU introduces new border management measures for nations exterior the bloc, port bosses have warned.
John Keefe, public affairs officer at Eurotunnel operator Getlink, stated the time it takes for passengers handy over facial scans, fingerprints and biographical knowledge beneath the brand new EU entry/exit system may result in a doubling and even quadrupling of ready occasions.
This weekend, vacationers are being warned of two-and-a-half hours of queues in Dover, suggesting ready occasions may rise to 10 hours beneath the brand new measures, which may come into impact after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It got here as Port of Dover boss Doug Bannister warned that the brand new system, which can apply to the UK following Brexit, poses a “strategic” risk to the “well being of the nation”, as a result of prospect of freight site visitors being delayed as a result of queues that could possibly be induced.
The system is anticipated to contain vacationers from non-EU nations, such because the UK, scanning their fingerprints and taking a photograph to register them in a database once they first enter a member state.
There are issues that this may trigger lengthy queues for rail and ferry passengers touring from Dover, as border checks are carried on the market for individuals coming into the EU earlier than commencing their cross-Channel journey.
That is in distinction to flights, the place passenger knowledge is recorded on the vacation spot airports.
The Port of Dover is already experiencing lengthy queues throughout peak durations as French border officers perform tightened post-Brexit checks.
Mr Keefe defined that the brand new system was “designed for airports merely with out regard to the character of the transport that takes place throughout the Channel”.
“The time it takes to seize all this knowledge, on prime of passport management on the border, may add something between a a number of of two and 4 occasions the time it takes to cross the border right now,” he instructed the Commons European Management Committee.
“If left unresolved, this might result in important queues for passengers in automobiles, notably to get by the enrollment course of.”
Each Mr Keefe and Mr Bannister highlighted the potential for passengers coming into data remotely, moderately than at ports, to cut back potential delays.
Talks are underway between the UK, French and EU administrations on tips on how to obtain this, with the Port of Dover calling for cell distant registration.
Mr Bannister instructed the committee: “It isn’t simply business issues for us – the well being of the nation is at stake right here.
“Half of our freight site visitors is destined north of London.
“It’s inconceivable to think about razing the land to the bottom if the brief strait just isn’t working correctly.
“These new rules developing have a probably massive strategic influence on the well being and prosperity of the nation, which is why we really feel it’s so essential.”
