The Entry / Exit System (EES) is designed to improve the security of European borders, but its introduction on 10 November has now been delayed a third time. There are still suggestions that it will be partly introduced this year, as a trial, but there is no timetable for full implementation, due to problems with the technology.
When it is introduced, non-EU visitors – including British citizens – will have to provide fingerprints and a facial scan when they cross most European borders. It will remove the need for passports to be manually stamped.
However, when we surveyed over 1,000 Which? Members, only one in five said they understood what the new EES system would entail.
Of those who said they understood the plans, 81% mistakenly thought it involved having to pay for a visa waiver, as well as or instead of providing biometric data such as fingerprints. Others thought that there would be new passport checks.
Only 11% of respondents correctly said that the only change would be the introduction of the EES.
Why the EES had to be postponed
Potential passengers are not the only ones to be confused.
One UK expert with connections at a major UK port told us, off the record, that the technology required had not yet been supplied to ports where EU passport control takes place on UK soil – such as the Port of Dover, Eurostar and Eurotunnel – and they have not been able to carry out the necessary tests.
Which? has also been told that British ports that work with EU border control were expecting to be supplied with information from the British government about what to tell their customers.
This was expected to be sent out two months before the launch date of the EES, but the expected help has not yet been forthcoming.
We asked the Home Office if it is planning to inform British passengers about the changes before they go live and it said that it was working with the relevant bodies to provide communications.
European border control confusion
Part of the confusion stems from the fact that the EU and associated countries such as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are making two major changes to their border control.
The first – the Entry / Exit System (EES) – was originally scheduled to be introduced on 10 November this year, but it’s been repeatedly postponed.
The second – a new visa waiver scheme called Etias – is due to be introduced a year later, from November 2025. This will entail British and other non-EU citizens having to apply online and pay a fee of €7 (around £6) for the Etias (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) before being able to travel to Europe. It will last for three years before travellers must apply and pay again.
In our survey, only 6% of people recognised that the scheme to take fingerprints and other biometric data at the border is called EES, 27% chose Etias from our list of possible names, while 66% said they weren’t sure what it was called.
Potential EES queues and travel chaos
Earlier this summer, the Port of Dover warned that there could be long queues when the new entry system is introduced.
This is because at Dover, as at the Eurostar terminal in London, European border checks are carried out on British soil. Ferry passengers will need to get out of their cars or coaches to be fingerprinted before boarding.
They were particularly concerned about the Christmas travel rush, but said that queuing could be reduced if there is a soft launch of the EES for the first few months, with not all passengers needing to be checked.
Warning of flight chaos – both from and to the UK
EasyJet has said that, in a worst-case scenario, UK travellers could end up stuck on planes after arriving in the EU, if terminal buildings are congested with border checks.
UK airport executives have told Which? that this scenario could also lead to delays of return flights into the UK.
This is because airlines – particularly low-cost carriers – have very short turnaround times at airports. If they are not able to disembark passengers rapidly, that will have knock-on effects to flights back to the UK.
We asked the European Commission about airlines' and passengers' concerns, and it said that more details will be published this week.
How we carried out our survey
In October 2024 we asked 1,220 members of the Which? Connect panel what they know about the plans for European border changes.
undefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/only-11-of-us-understand-what-the-eus-huge-rule-change-means-for-uk-travellers-aWvsr8t0GKqv