The UK is seeking to ease new EU fingerprint border checks on British travellers in a bid to avoid disruption next summer.
Concerns have been raised that the new Entry/Exit System (EES) will result in extra queues and delays with holidaymakers having to undergo biometric checks at the Port of Dover plus Eurostar and Eurotunnel terminals.
Britons will have their fingerprints scanned and photographs taken as well as showing their passport when entering the Continent for the first time from November 17.
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However, new Home Office immigration minister Seema Malhotra told MPs that the government was lobbying the European Commission for extended emergency measures to enable French border guards to fast-track travellers at peak times.
Under the proposals, a “light-touch” approach would be adopted where they do not take fingerprint scans or photos of all travels when there are “excessive” queues, The Telegraph reported.
But these “precautionary” measures are only being considered for the first six months after in production of EES.
The UK wants to see them extended beyond the summer holiday period when queues to cross the Channel at Dover are longest.
Malhotra reportedly told the Commons: “We believe that extending these beyond six months would improve throughput at the EU’s external border if queues form during peak periods in early 2025 due to the additional processing time required for EES.”
EES would increase processing times at border crossings where UK travellers enter the Schengen Area.
“Insufficient progress has been made on ensuring that these impacts, as well as other potential impacts, are minimised – with disruption likely when the scheme is introduced,” she said.
“This is particularly true for journeys involving travel through London St Pancras, Eurotunnel in Folkestone and the Port of Dover.”
Her comments came as the Home Office unveiled new legislation to enable an extension of the French border control zone at Dover in an effort to cut congestion when EES is introduced.