By James Davey
DOVER, England (Reuters) -Britain’s Port of Dover is confident the EU’s new biometric border checks will not result in traffic congestion in the peak summer season despite warning it will take six times longer to process each car, its boss said on Wednesday.
On Sunday, the European Union will start to phase in its much delayed Entry/Exit System (EES) for all non-EU citizens, including British visitors – an automated system that requires travellers to register at the border by scanning their passport and having their fingerprints and photograph taken.
The EU will gradually introduce the new system over six months, meaning different ports and airports within the Schengen open-border zone may have varying requirements until April 2026.
For British travellers using the Port of Dover, the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone or Eurostar terminal at St Pancras International – the so-called “juxtaposed” ports – the process will take place at the border before they leave the UK.
Port of Dover CEO Doug Bannister said it currently takes between 30 and 60 seconds for a car to get through the border.
He said that while the port estimated EES would on average take six minutes per vehicle, he is confident a 40 million pounds ($54 million) investment in new infrastructure would pay off.
“We have purposely designed these facilities to handle our peak volume days (in the summer) … whilst ensuring that there is no queuing or congestion on the external road network,” Bannister told reporters.
He said the EU has also allowed for so-called “precautionary measures” during the first six months post full operation of EES.
“What that will allow us to do is dial back on the process if we have to, if the traffic volumes are going to be larger than we anticipated.”
At both the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel terminal only freight and coach traffic will be subject to EES checks from Sunday.
Passenger vehicle checks will follow in November at Dover and by the end of the year at Eurotunnel.
Bannister said the Port of Dover would be ready to start EES for cars from November 1 but was being guided by the French border authorities.
He added that many Britons were not aware of the border changes: “There’s a growing understanding but it’s not pervasive yet.”
($1 = 0.7444 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
