Long-awaited changes to European border rules are now finally expected to be introduced later this year, meaning big changes for those travelling to the continent.

Here, Rhys Griffiths explains what it will mean for passengers using the Channel Tunnel or ferries, and why transport bosses fear the Port of Dover is a “nightmare waiting to happen”…

The headlines surrounding the planned introduction of new European Union border rules – now expected to come into force from November 10 – have been nothing if not alarming.

There have been stark warnings about repeats of the chaos at the border seen in the summer of 2022, when travellers were left stranded in 15-hour queues, with some predicting the introduction of the new Entry/Exit System (EES) could mean such scenes are replicated here in Kent more frequently.

Until now, these concerns have largely been a matter for the cross-Channel travel industry and for governments at a local, national and international level - but the focus will now switch to preparing passengers for the changes ahead. So what can you expect if travelling to the continent once the new regime is in place?

Put simply, the new digital border system will require non-EU nationals – which since Brexit includes those travelling on a British passport – to register biometric details, including fingerprints and a photograph, when entering a country in the Schengen area.

This new process will replace the current system of manually stamping passports when visitors arrive in the EU, and is intended to improve border security, combat illegal migration and prevent those without the relevant visas from overstaying.

If you were to travel to Europe by air, this process will be carried out at the airport of arrival when you reach the border and present yourself to immigration officers. But things are different for those travelling from the UK to France via the Channel Tunnel and ferries from Dover.

Since the Treaty of Le Touquet agreement allows for the French border to be placed on UK soil – the so-called juxtaposed controls – this means the data required under EES must be gathered on our side of the Channel prior to departure.

The challenge for Eurotunnel in Folkestone and the Port of Dover has been how to adapt to the additional requirements of EES enrolment while still keeping passenger flows moving and preventing the backlogs which lead to queues of traffic backing up onto the county’s roads.

How will it work at the Channel Tunnel?

Speaking to KentOnline ahead of the expected November launch date, Eurotunnel director of public affairs John Keefe expressed confidence that the firm’s £70 million investment in EES preparation will mean there will be no negative impact on the flow of tourist traffic through the Channel Tunnel between Folkestone and Calais.

This summer work to construct a new pre-enrolment building at the terminal in Folkestone was completed. In a space the size of two football pitches, large enough to accommodate 53 vehicles at any one time, passengers required to register biometrics for EES will exit their cars and complete the process at newly-installed kiosks.

Eurotunnel says it has used artificial intelligence to carry out modelling to inform the new layout of the terminal, which it says will in fact increase overall capacity and mean that at peak times more vehicles can be on-site rather than on the roads leading to the terminal.

Mr Keefe said: “Our peak throughput on a busy summer getaway is around 600-700 vehicles per hour, and the capacity of the new EES facility is over 750 vehicles per hour.

“So we can get stuff through the terminal just as quickly as we can get it through today, so the overall traffic flow keeps going at the same speed.

“Individual vehicles will take a little bit longer because they have to stop for a moment and go through this enrolment phase. We reckon a car will probably stop for about five minutes.”

He added: “What we're very keen to do is to make sure that people recognise what we've done and how much it benefits traffic flow, so that we're not mentioned in the same sentence as issues at Dover.

“We've invested £70 million in spaces the size of two football pitches on each terminal, one in the UK and one in France, both the same size, both capable of treating over 100 people at a time and maintaining the traffic flow. So we don't expect to see any downsides from EES being introduced.”

Why is the Port of Dover a ‘nightmare waiting to happen’?

While there is optimism at Eurotunnel, concerns remain about how the Port of Dover will manage when EES is finally implemented.

Geographical constraints in Dover mean it has not been possible to create a new registration facility in the same way as has been delivered by its cross-Channel rival. Although coach traffic will be able to be processed at the port’s Western Docks, passengers travelling in cars will need to be enrolled on the approach to the border at the Eastern Docks.

The additional time this will take could mean that, at peak travel times, we once again see traffic spilling out of the port and onto the town’s road network. There is hope that agreement can be reached with the EU and French border authorities to allow cars to also be processed at the Western Docks, but as yet this agreement has not been secured.

Toby Howe is the tactical lead for the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum, the multi-agency body which works to ensure a coordinated response to emergencies and other critical incidents in the county. We asked him where the introduction of EES could have the greatest impact once the new rules are in force.

“We're not worried about Eurotunnel, they've got a set up which is brilliant,” he said. “Our real concern all the way through this is the Port of Dover, because they don't have that space and facility. So we need them to be able to have permission from the French to use the Western Docks as that registration area, which takes the impact away from the port.

“If you add any delays to the processing there is the high risk that those queues will last for longer and go on further, and you've then got the added problem that they're not sure of the technology yet, the reliability of the technology in the port, so the Eastern Docks is just a nightmare waiting to happen.”

What is the Port of Dover doing to avoid traffic mayhem?

Doug Bannister, the port’s chief executive, admits there remain risks associated with the plans for implementation of EES, despite the hiring of between 60 and 80 new staff who will be responsible for overseeing registration of passengers when they arrive at the Eastern Docks via tablets brought to their vehicles.

“We'll have agents with tablets, and what they'll do is they'll look to register all the British passport holders’ details and take two forms of biometrics there,” Mr Bannister said.

“Once they've been registered, then they'll proceed through the border like they normally do today. That process should be sufficient to cater for volumes other than we'll have some busy days, busier than normal days, around Christmas and maybe February half term. But that should for the most part see us through to about Easter next year.

“Then what we're doing as a part of a wider port development program, our Dover Western Docks Revival, we’re going to be infilling a good chunk of the Western Docks.

“One of the areas, the Granville Dock, we're looking to accelerate the infill of that and get that prepared so that we can shift the car registration process from our congested ferry terminal out to the west side of the port. And that will allow us to get back up to being able to cater for our busy summer season.

“The challenge is that that stage is not yet approved. While the EU and the French authorities have approved for the coach processing out in the west, they have not yet approved for the car processing. So we're carrying risk until they do.”

Will the use of tablets to register passengers actually work?

An additional risk for the Port of Dover is the technology it is relying on for the enrolment process. Unlike at Eurotunnel, where hard-wired kiosks will capture passenger data, the use of largely-untried tablets means added uncertainty for the new procedure at the Eastern Docks.

Mr Bannister said: “We had a trial over a year ago now and the tablets didn't work very well. We went over to the laboratory where they're being built and there were still some fundamental challenges in them working properly.

“What we understand is they've made a tremendous amount of improvements since then. But what we have been doing is pressing for a live trial to be done here in Dover so that we can see how it would work within the context of our environment. We don't have a date for that yet. We would want to be able to trial the technology well in advance of going live.

“When we first started talking about [EES], the one thing that we couldn't agree to was having passengers exit their vehicles inside the ferry terminal, or at least particularly in that area of the ferry terminal, because people walking around in live traffic lanes is really dangerous. So to come up with a solution that is tablet-based, where it's through the window of the vehicle, that will make some improvements.

“We're carrying quite significant technology risk with this, until we see how the whole system works and get confidence that it's working properly, we will be carrying that risk.”

Will it be chaos at Christmas and Easter?

In his role as leader of Kent County Council (KCC), Cllr Roger Gough has been among those appealing to central government to assist Kent in preparing for the forthcoming introduction of EES. We asked him if he was beginning to feel more confident that the challenges posed can be overcome.

“There's been a huge amount of work done, there has been some progress,” he said. “But I think it would be really unwise to think that there aren't still significant risks.

“They don't relate particularly to the precise time [November 10] when it's introduced, that is of course a very quiet time of year. I don't think you would see significant instantaneous impacts. Clearly it will be more of a challenge as you get to big travel times such as Christmas, or later when you get to Easter. I think those are the points at which you would see greater risk.

“Also, of course there can always be something that happens, because historically speaking we didn't need EES to give us problems around the Channel ports. Clearly there are a whole range of things that could still generate disruption. That I think is the concern still and I think it's just realistic to say that. Whilst a great deal of work has gone on, and is going on, both by Eurotunnel and by the Port of Dover, the biggest concern will always be that there is greater vulnerability.”

He added: “I think there's still a big job to be done in terms of communication.

“But it's finding the right way and the right time to step up the pace from here. And of course this is communication not simply in Kent. It's also about the national position. People will be coming into Kent and that's very much a national government matter.”

Cllr Gough explained that KCC, as well as other agencies in the county, is working with Whitehall to explore the potential for sites to be identified for the holding of tourist traffic at peak times to lessen the queues which could potentially develop at the border. These discussions are ongoing, and he could not be more specific about where these sites may be located.

It is understood that ministers are in the process of seeking agreements with landowners for suitable sites – which could include fields – to “stack” vehicles bound for the port. These are said to include areas previously earmarked during contingency planning for a potential “no-deal” Brexit scenario following our vote to leave the EU.

In August the government announced a new £10.5 million package of funding to help Eurotunnel, the Port of Dover and Eurostar prepare for the introduction of EES.

Seema Malhotra, the minister for migration and citizenship, said: “While EES checks will be a significant change to the EU border, we are working hard with the European Commission, member states and ports to ensure we are well prepared, and minimise any disruption for Brits travelling into Europe.

“This additional funding for ports will ensure they have the right technology and processes in place, so that EES registration can take place as smoothly as possible.”

Could ‘holding areas’ help keep roads clear?

Mr Howe pointed to successful protocols which are in place to manage the flow of freight traffic on the road network at times of delay and disruption, which have legislation behind them. However, no such framework exists for passenger traffic.

He said: “The tourist traffic is the real issue because there is no legislation to manage the tourist traffic, so that's the risk we have.

“There is modelling being carried out, but the modelling keeps changing as we bring in different scenarios. Currently, the Department for Transport is looking for a couple of holding areas that we could possibly use for tourist traffic so that they're not all parking and queuing on the road.

“So we've got to remodel how that would operate to see the impact of that. Ideally we do want sites where, if we've got lengthy queues of tourist traffic, we can safely hold them so they're not all queuing on the road.”

A significant amount of time and money has been invested in preparing Kent for the introduction of EES, all in the hope that repeats of the chaos of the summer of 2022 can be avoided.

The go-live date of November 10 has yet to be confirmed by the EU, but both cross-Channel travellers and the communities of east Kent will be hoping that when the time comes, we will be ready.