EU Entry/Exit System branded ‘complete muddle’ as launch nears

The EU launches its long-awaited Entry/Exit System (EES) on Sunday, with prior warning to UK travellers left to the UK government and trade, and a senior industry figure declaring it “a complete muddle”.

 

The system, which requires visa-exempt non-EU visitors to register biometric face and fingerprint data on their first entry, will be launched over 180 days, with at least 10% of border crossings requiring registration from day one. However, there is no information on where the system will apply.

 

Tom Jenkins, chief executive of European travel association Etoa, said: “We’re not getting any information at all. All they [the EC and EU member states] are saying is it will be rolled out from October 12 – it’s not remotely clear who will be doing it.”

 

More: Analysis: How the EU’s Entry/Exit System will roll out

He suggested: “It’s a complete muddle. They can’t have a partial system, which is what they’re trying to do – to start enrolment, to get the electronic record up even if it’s not a proper record. So, they’re going to register people as well as stamping their passport.”

 

Jenkins argued: “They have to get it working in order to launch the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias).”

 

Eurostar has announced its EES plans, saying it “will introduce entry checks for some travellers departing from London St Pancras”, but Jenkins said: “Elsewhere, there is no way of knowing.”

 

Yet he noted the system can be switched off temporarily if it causes delays, saying: “If it all goes haywire, they can revert to inspecting passports. I don’t think it will be catastrophic because of that, it will just be tiresome.”

Jenkins added: “They’re launching it in the low season and have enormous systems set up in places where large numbers of British people arrive. My impression is it will mean no more than you’re required to do when you enter the US.”

 

Speaking at the Travel Convention in Majorca on Tuesday, Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said “I reckon there will be delays”, adding: “Journalists probably already have written their copy [on this].”

 

However, speaking to Travel Weekly afterwards, he predicted EES would provide long-term benefits for the industry.

 

“Once all the biometrics are captured then it should speed up going through immigration, because you won’t have to have your passport checked every time," he said.

 

“It’s a short-term process we need to go through but it should produce some long-term benefits.”

 

Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said said it was “disappointing that Eurostar will require travellers to provide extensive documentation
and introduce more unnecessary complexity to travel”, adding: “We encourage travellers to allocate additional time for security.”

 

More: Analysis: How the EU’s Entry/Exit System will roll out