UK and France to increase staffing to tackle EES border queues

The UK and France have agreed to increase staffing at border controls to tackle possible travel chaos caused by the EU’s Entry-Exit system (EES).

Disruption at Channel crossings is expected to peak next weekend at the start of the summer holidays, with warnings of long queues and tailbacks unless the system is fixed or checks are suspended.

The Guardian said French officials have reportedly assured the UK transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, that more staff will be deployed to ease queues.

“Alexander said her French counterpart, Philippe Tabarot, had agreed that high levels of resourcing at border points were essential to enable smoother journeys for passengers over the summer period,” said the newspaper.

Alexander also met the European transport and tourism commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas on Monday (July 14) to talk about supporting holidaymakers through the EU’s enhanced security checks during the summer holidays.

“The two counterparts agreed to work together constructively to ensure travel across the border is as seamless as possible in the summer and through the autumn,” said a Department for Transport statement.

The meeting comes after the government announced £20 million of funding to increase the number of booths for passport checks at Port of Dover, on top of £10.5 million already invested at Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar to prevent disruption.

Doug Bannister, chief executive at the Port of Dover, said he was “really grateful for all the support” from government.

Alexander commented: “We want everyone to have the summer holidays they deserve – and today’s meeting shows everyone is pulling in the same direction.

“I was reassured that the EU commissioner for transport understood the concerns of holidaymakers and recognised the need for us to work together to make sure journeys are as seamless as possible during the busiest travel period of the year.”

Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale warned that British tourists could die in 12-hour queues this summer unless the EU suspends EES checks.

The MP for Herne Bay & Sandwich in Kent told The Times that huge traffic backlogs caused by EES could prevent emergency services from helping people stuck in their cars during hot weather.

“If you have elderly people, children and dogs in 12-hour queues with no lavatory facilities, inadequate water supplies, somebody will die, somebody will have a heart attack. I’m not overegging it. This is the stark reality,” he said.

“How do you get an ambulance through traffic jams like that?” he added. “People will say, ‘oh Roger Gale is being alarmist’, but it is because Roger Gale is alarmed. I don’t want this to happen. Put the system on ice, get the technology right, make it work and then introduce it properly.”

Regarding his comments, Alexander told the newspaper: “This kind of scaremongering helps no one, and it fails to take account of the extensive preparations that have been underway for months.”