Challenges posed by the rollout of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) were heard by the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee on 26 February.
Evidence was given by Chief Corporate and Public Affairs Officer at Getlink Group John Keefe and Port of Dover Head of EU Exit Tim Reardon.
In a pleasing development, Mr Reardon confirmed that coach traffic will be handled on a satellite site on the port estate in a discreet manner, where it will not be held up by car or lorry traffic. Approval is expected in writing soon.
Updates were also given on the planned introduction of an app that would enable facial biometrics to be registered at distance. The Committee heard that that app is not expected until “at least 2025,” and that “dates are notoriously difficult to pin down in this situation.”
Contributing to the delay is a two-tier requirement for individual member states to adapt the app to their needs, which then feed information into the eu-LISA agency which controls a passenger information database.
As stipulated by the Schengen Borders Code, the digital system will need to be overseen by a uniformed officer, which further foils self-service benefits that other online schemes deliver. That remains an issue of contention for Getlink, according to Mr Keefe.
“Once we have established how the regime will work for each of our traffic streams — we are there for two of the big streams; we are close to agreeing an arrangement for the third — those need to be signed off and physical preparations made to accommodate the new processes,” he adds.
Mr Reardon says he is “confident” that both the car and coach processes at Dover will ensure that the rate of registration will “match the rate at which the French border control… is able to process [them]”.
