FOR ALL EES STUFF, QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, MOANS, JOYS AND ANYTHING ELSE

Latest stuff cut'n pasted from the Connexion to avoid paywall stuff. Note the para ref potential increasing ferry charges.

French ferry ports have told The Connexion of serious concerns over lack of testing for the new European Entry/Exit System (EES) digital equipment and potential for longer queues when the system launches in November.

Due to technical delays and the Olympics, there have been no chances for testing of pre-registration kiosks and tablets, the director of Ports de Normandie, Jérôme Chauvet, said.

There are also fears of long queues on the UK side at Dover, where no special areas are being set aside for passenger pre-registration in EES – as is being done by Eurostar and Eurotunnel – instead, the process will be done in the passport queues.

That will also be the case at Normandy ports, said Mr Chauvet. Cars will be directed to ‘EU’ or ‘non-EU’ lanes and ‘non-EU’ occupants will remain inside and be approached by a worker who will hand a tablet computer.

They will not get out of their vehicles.

People on foot will be collected by a shuttle bus which will take them to the ferry terminal, where they will pre-register at self-service kiosks before going to immigration controls.

Read more: France reported to be asking for new border system delay

What is confirmed start date for EES?​

EES has been in the pipeline for over a decade and has been delayed several times, but European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson confirmed a November 10 start in a speech to the agency organising the IT infrastructure.

Even so, there has been no public announcement of the date. It is rumoured officials want to keep November 17 as a final option.



EES will create a database entry for any non-EU/EES/Swiss citizen visitor who enters or exits the Schengen area, with passport details, a scan of the fingerprints of the right hand and a facial image. It will then log future exits and entries.

For people coming to or from France, this will occur at ports and airports in France, the exceptions are outbound travellers from Dover, London St Pancras and using Eurotunnel, where French checks take place on UK soil.

‘Non-EU’ travellers living in the Schengen area with long-stay visas and/or residency cards will not be affected, but will be in the same ‘non-EU’ passport queues.

“As there is no space for cars to park for pre-registration, it will need to be done in queues heading for the exit. So, those people will no doubt wait with the rest and may have to wait longer,” Mr Chauvet said.

“We are told it will take on average an extra one-and-a-half minutes per car. Today, it is around 30-45 seconds, so the time needed will significantly increase [i.e. to up to two minutes 15 seconds in total]. Plus, the tablet will send data to a European database and when the car arrives at the border guard’s booth, he or she will validate the data, checking the database. Will it all work well? We do not yet know.”

Our full Q and A session with Mr Chauvet can be found below.

Read more: Q&A with Normandy Ports director on new EU border plans

Will EES affect ferry prices?​

The ports also face costs including erecting canopies for the areas where the checks will occur and recruiting staff to hand out tablets. They are suggestions ferry companies will recoup costs via an increase in ticket prices.

A phone app, intended to be able to collect some pre-registration information, is being developed by EU borders agency Frontex, but industry insiders do not expect it to be ready to use for the launch.

In an interview this spring, Frontex deputy executive director Uku Sarekanno admitted there are “always operational risks that accompany any kind of digitisation effort”, and they will have to make contingency plans for what happens if “the systems are down”.

EES is meant to remove the need for passport stamping, but this means changes to the way border guards will have to work, with risk of human error.

Mr Sarekanno added they expect “very serious discussion” now, to explore how more can be automated at the borders in the next five to 10 years, for a “more seamless travel experience.”
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Davey B said:
More delays....

www.euronews.com

EU delays (again) new electronic system for border checks

The Entry/Exit System is a comprehensive reform to modernise checks at the EU's external borders and promote information-sharing. #EuropeNews
www.euronews.com www.euronews.com
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as I predicted above - the small ports just don't seem to have any willingness to buy the technology required. I was reading an article where Cherbourg has given a Gallic shrug. It only takes one port to say, "non" for the deck of cards to collapse but there are hundreds of them across several countries.

The partial implementation mentioned in the article would be farcical e.g. you leave the UK via the Tunnel so go on the computer system as entering Schengen, so no passport stamp. You leave via Cherbourg who still use a rubber stamp. Will Cherbourg be able to see your entry date on a computer? Will they log you out or just stamp your passport? What happens next time you go but the computer thinks you are still there as an overstaying fugitive?
 
Wapping said:
Weren’t we going to say FUEU to all this stuff? Oh, wait a minute, that blue passport doesn’t seem to cut the mustard.
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it must be rather Gauling for the Little Englanders to see that those revolting French are much better at FUing the EU bureaucrats. Much easier to undermine from the inside, whilst keeping hold of the useful stuff like freedom of movement
 
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SBD said:
Much like Brexit then.
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Yup.

We are now the second class citizens of Europe, forced into following EU dictats as to how we can travel and work, totally unable to say FUEU or ignore the rules. A Spanish peasant farmer on his smoke belching tractor has more freedom of movement than us.

It’s amusing to read all the ‘The UK must re-arm and must align its defence with our European neighbours’, much of it from the same loudmouths who screamed blue murder at even the rumour of a European army.
 
I'm triggered every time I stand in the customs queue or pay for my bike bits or shopping. :D:D:D

Or this last episode; sitting at home waiting for time to pass so I can return and visit my friends. :cry:

Or look at the latest immigration figures. :oops:

I then take comfort in of all the benefits that have been gained ............... :love:

:beerjug:
 
Excellent...would be awful to think that the angst caused by something that happened years ago could wear off sufficiently to prevent whining about something (maybe)that's going to happen years hence....keep it up! :DD
 
wilbjr21 said:
I'm triggered every time I stand in the customs queue or pay for my bike bits or shopping. :D:D:D

Or this last episode; sitting at home waiting for time to pass so I can return and visit my friends. :cry:

Or look at the latest immigration figures. :oops:

I then take comfort in of all the benefits that have been gained ............... :love:

:beerjug:
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You do know that you can move to the EU...I guess you have a pension, that would satisfy the criteria for residency in whichever country you choose.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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