French ferry ports warn of passenger delays as EES full rollout approaches
Software failures and insufficient staffing risk “congestion and disorganisation”
There are concerns about likely long queues at ports in the weeks ahead
Alicia G. Monedero/Shutterstock
France’s ports have raised the alarm over “serious risks of congestion and disorganisation at the border crossing points as the summer season approaches”.
They say continuing software failures, making the use of pre-registration kiosks and tablet computers impossible, are a major concern as the date set in EU law for full rollout approaches in a few days’ time.
They are calling for an urgent meeting with the interior and transport ministers.
It comes as the UK government has urged Britons travelling to the continent this Easter to be aware of the new procedures, saying that it is engaging with the European Commission “to help minimise disruption to Brits as much as possible”.
The Port of Dover, the UK’s busiest ferry port, has yet to implement EES for travellers in cars (only for coaches and lorries), telling us today: “We are working closely with our French border agency partners to ensure a smooth introduction of the EES for tourist passengers, which includes waiting until current issues with the French technology are resolved and thorough testing at Dover has been conducted.”
‘Full’ operation due from April 10
According to EU regulations, EES is meant to be used at all of France’s borders and for all eligible travellers by March 30 and it should be ‘fully’ deployed, including the end of passport stamping, by April 10. The French government recently said it was still working towards this.
The EU has been operating a phased approach to the checks, which have been gradually ramping up since October 12, 2025.
This affects all people of non-EU/non-EEA/non-Swiss nationality who are entering or leaving the EU’s Schengen area for short trips. It does not affect such nationals who live in the EU, however they may find themselves caught up in longer queues.
The scheme requires the person’s passport to be scanned for information from its chip, as well as facial and fingerprint images to be taken. At larger ports and airports and at Gare du Nord and London Saint-Pancras, pre-registration devices are meant to help speed up the process by allowing people to input most of the required information before they arrive at a border guard’s desk.
Once they are in the system, their database entry will be used to track future arriving and departing into/from the bloc.
The EU had intended that an app would further ease congestion by allowing travellers to input much of their information before arrival on site, however so far only Sweden is making significant use of it.
After ‘full operation’, the rules allow for several months when there may be brief, temporary stoppages of the collection of biometric data at certain points to avoid long queues.
Ports and ship companies write to ministers
There is a “major risk of disorganisation at the port borders” according to organisations Union des Ports de France (ports operators) and Armateurs de France (representing commercial shipping) who have jointly written to the interior and transport ministers “to alert them to the persistence of serious malfunctions observed in the rollout of EES at French port borders”.
They say this comes after “multiple alerts and worrying observations on the ground”.
While they say they support the general aims of EES, including improved security, the system as deployed today is not “sufficiently operational” at the port border crossing points.
They have identified several major difficulties:
Software failures in the kiosks and tablets are not allowing them to be made use of properly
The current way in which checks are organised, and the staffing levels, “will not allow us to absorb the volumes of traffic expected in high season”
The system has been designed more with traveller flows in airports in mind, and “is not adapted to the specificities of flows involving numerous passengers coming off ferries in their vehicles”
The organisations say this poses “great risks for the sector”, adding: “In these conditions, a defective deployment of the system under full operational conditions as of April 10 would bring a serious risk of congestion and disorganisation at the port border crossing points as the summer season approaches.
“The consequences could be serious: massively lengthened turnaround times in port, knock-on delays to ferry services, deterioration of passengers’ experiences, security risks and a loss of competitiveness by French ports.
“Beyond that, the predictable displeasure of passengers coming from countries outside the Schengen area could also have an impact on tourist numbers.”
The organisations say they are calling for an urgent meeting with the relevant ministers, saying it is especially worrying in view of the major investments that the ports have already had to make to adapt their set-ups for EES.
