Britons will face possible nightmare queues at small airports in mainland Europe after the introduction of electronic borders, according to The Standard.
The EU’s European Entry/Exit System (EES) would come into force in November, the Foreign Office reported.
From November 2024, the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) will start for all non-EU nationals, including British nationals, travelling in or out of the Schengen area. The Schengen area is made up of 29 European countries, 25 of which are EU Member States. The EES is a digital border system which registers non-EU visitors travelling into the Schengen area instead of stamping their passports.
For the first time since the new system was introduced, non-EU nationals arriving in Schengen countries would be required to register their fingerprints, provide a facial scan, and answer questions about their stay. On departure, they will also be checked against the EES database to confirm compliance with existing rules on time of stay and departure registration.
The EES will also abolish the need to stamp passports manually at the EU’s external border. Instead, digital records will be established linking the travel document to the person’s identity via biometric data.
However, a senior transport industry source suggested that the biggest delays could be at smaller EU airports, where large numbers of Britons flock to tourism hotspots in the summer.
Small airports are going to find it tough.
In July, Home Office minister Seema Malhotra claimed the UK was insufficiently prepared for new EU border security checks after Brexit for UK citizens entering the bloc. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is keen to mend relations with the EU after Brexit severely damaged them, including a multi-billion-dollar trade blow.
