Widespread confusion over new checks at UK/France borders

Almost two thirds of Britons are unaware of the new border checks scheduled to start in autumn with the rollout of the Entry/Exit System according to a new survey.

All travellers from the UK will have their details logged by a digital system which will record the name, age, facial image, fingerprints, point of entry and exit for everyone over the age of 12 travelling to and from the EU.

The system is expected to finally start this autumn having been pushed back several times.

Read more: Prepare for border changes to start November 6, French airports told

However, a new survey* reports that 63% of Britons are unaware of the EES.

Among the minority of Britons who are aware of it, nearly a quarter of those polled (22%) said it would ‘put them off visiting’.

Concerns over border delays

Almost half of those (46%) who say they would be put off travelling said it was due to concerns over their personal data being kept up to three years. The remainder blamed the anticipated border delays.

Indeed, concerns over border delays have been a recurring theme of the EES.

An investigation by UK MPs discovered significant apprehension from travel bodies and tour operators, including Dover Port, which called the EES “an existential risk to the tourism economy of nations on both sides of the Channel.”

Eurostar voiced its own concerns about the new system’s “significant risks” in a written submission to the UK Parliament’s European Scrutiny Committee in January.

It argues that the enhanced security features of the EES do “not seem to be justified by the actual level of threat facing the Schengen Area,” since “British nationals do not represent a serious threat of illegal migration into the EU.”

*Co-op Insurance survey of 2,000 UK adults between January and March 2024

Do you have any questions or concerns about the new EES border checks starting in autumn?  Let us know via news@connexionfrance.com and we will address as many as we can in a future article.