Dover port urges UK to confront potential delays from EU entry rules

The Port of Dover urged Britain to work with the European Union on technological solutions to avert miles-long traffic jams once the bloc introduces a new mechanism for entry and exit checks next summer.

Implementation of the system next May could extend passenger processing times currently averaging 90 seconds per car by “a few minutes,” the port’s Chief Executive Officer Doug Bannister said Wednesday. A 2018 Imperial College report forecast a two-minute increase would trigger 29-mile queues.

The European Entry/Exit System means Britons and other non-EU nationals must register biometrics including facial and fingerprint scans on first crossing the border, and then be scanned on subsequent occasions.

Bannister said the technology was designed for airports and railway stations, where individual passengers stand in line, but “doesn’t work in a ferry port where there are hundreds of cars waiting to get onto ferries.” Dover currently has 13 ferries operating at about half hour frequencies and catered to 11 million passengers and 2 million cars in 2019.

Measures could including moving the initial registration of passenger scans away from Dover, and also the deployment automatic number plate recognition software, the CEO said in an interview in London.

The EU has already postponed the implementation of the EES system multiple times after contractors encountered hurdles, and said it may be introduced progressively to allow some degree of flexibility.