Travel experts say the European Union and airports across the continent are right to change plans for a major update to travel rules that would have seen huge queues for UK holidaymakers from November. The EU has postponed the launch of its new biometric entry-check system for non-EU citizens (EES), which was set to launch on November 10.
Ports and stations across the UK have created hiuge new holding and processing areas to cope with the expected lengthy queues and easyJet said passengers may be held on planes when the rules come into frpce – amid huge queues to get through the new checks.
Now Germany, France and the Netherlands have announced their border computer systems are not yet prepared. “November 10 is no longer on the table,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told reporters.
The EES system means that when you enter Europe from the UK you will have to have your fingerprints and picture taken and may have to answer questions about your stay. The French interior ministry said that while they believe in the effectiveness of the EES, its implementation needs to be well-planned. The UK Government and holiday companies have issued stern warnings about potential airport chaos and lengthy delays due to the new system.
In September, it was disclosed that over one in five Brits – 22 percent – would be deterred from European holidays because of the new EU border systems. Almost half of those surveyed were uncomfortable with the idea of their biometric data being stored for three years, while 38 percent were worried about long delays.
The EES was originally scheduled to launch on October 6 but was postponed until November 10 following pressure from French officials.
Seamus McCauley, Head of Public Affairs at Holiday Extras, said: “Holidays should be hassle-free, and pushing through EES before the technology was ready was clearly going to ruin a lot of trips to Europe this winter. The French, German and Dutch airports were right to call for a pause to the scheme, and the EU was right to back down and agree to postpone the scheme until the tech was in place.
“The one remaining problem is that now the EU scheme is delayed, the UK’s reciprocal ETA scheme is going to discourage a lot of potential visitors from coming here if it goes ahead in April, as well as disadvantaging UK airports as a connection hub. Hopefully the UK government will recognise that the delay of the EES creates a new disparity between the EU’s access plans and our own, and delay the UK scheme accordingly.”