Brussels, Belgium: The European Commission has decided to delay the introduction of the Entry/Exit System (EES) once again – it was expected to come into force on 10 November. Ylva Johansson, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, made the announcement at the end of a meeting of EU interior ministers last week where the issue was debated.
“10th of November is no longer on the table,” Johansson told reporters, explaining that Germany, France and the Netherlands are not ready for the changes. “I hope we can start as soon as possible but there’s no new timeline so far. This also depends on the legal assessment that we will do and we’re working on it right now.”
Johannson spoke of “some concerns when it comes to the resilience of the system”.
The EU could introduce the EES in a phased-in manner “with a little step by step going into the system, not a Big Bang of all border crossing points at the same time”. However, this gradual introduction would not start on 10 November. The EES has been repeatedly delayed. Its main purpose is to introduce fingerprinting and biometric checks at the EU’s external borders and replace the traditional physical stamping of passports.
The Port of Dover, Logistics UK, Kent Council have all raised concerns about possible traffic delays caused by the checks. Sources say that truck traffic is not the problem, as up to 90% of those driving vehicles across the Channel hold EU passports. But Dover port is concerned that any hold-up in passenger vehicles and tour buses could cause traffic to back up in the town and up the motorway.
RHA director of public affairs & policy, Declan Pang, said: “We welcome this delay to EES and continue to seek clarity and further information from Government on EES processes, timelines and readiness.
“Our members have long warned that the system needs to be fully tested before activation to ensure that it can cope with peak traffic flows. It’s vital that we get these processes right, especially at ports where thousands of vehicles pass through daily.
“We know the knock-on impact that disruption and delays can cause and we’ll continue to engage with officials and ports to ensure that all infrastructure is ready, updated and secure before the eventual full roll-out.”
