EU fingerprint scanners will not cause delays, Eurotunnel boss says
New system will come into force in October across all European borders
The boss of Eurotunnel has promised that a new EU biometric passport system will have a “minimal impact” on crossing times between the UK and France, less than three weeks before the programme rolls out nationally.
The heavily delayed Entry-Exit System (EES) will require any non-EU citizen travelling in or out of the bloc to record fingerprints and take a photo at a dedicated booth the first time they cross the border.
The system, originally intended to begin in 2022, comes into force on October 12, with a staggered increase to April to allow port operators to gradually increase the number of passengers required to comply.
The process would have a “very minimal impact on the time to cross the channel”, promised Yann Leriche, CEO of Eurotunnel.
The scheme should add “a maximum of two minutes” to the 90-minute process of crossing from motorways in England to those in France, he added.
Airlines, ports and Eurostar and Eurotunnel have all installed booths or technology to process people under the new system, which applies to all non-EU citizens.
Eurotunnel, which operates the channel tunnel and trains carrying cars but does not run Eurostar, has spent £80mn on EES kiosks and technology to process all passengers, including hiring 120 people to help travellers use the self-service system.
The group, which accounts for six in 10 passenger cars that cross from Britain to France, will begin processing coaches and lorries from October and the first passenger cars by the end of the year.
Its set-up will require passengers to leave their cars in specific bays, before scanning their passport into a machine that takes their photo and then scans their fingerprints.
Once fingerprints have been recorded, passengers will only need to have their picture taken and scan their passports in future crossings, up until they change their passport or if they do not travel again for three years.
“There is no excuse not to be ready,” Leriche said.
“The only risk I see for ourselves is that others are not ready and they are going to cry so loud and manage to convince people to postpone their journey,” he added.
Other ports had been slower to install new equipment, he said. “Those who are not ready are only showing they did not do a good job. That they didn’t want to look at EES and by looking away they thought it would go away. But that didn’t happen.”