Uncertainty continues over the start date for the EU's new digital borders system as November approaches with no further date announced after November 10 was said to be "off the table".
The latest of several delays to the system will, however, give more time to French structures such as ports and airports - which had expressed concerns - to finish installations and checks of the new equipement required.
No new target date has been released although the EU has not announced any formal change to its previously-approved general plan to start “in autumn 2024” and the offiical EES website still refers to "the second half of 2024".
Read more: November 10 start date for EES would have been 'utter carnage,' UK Lords told
The latest delay was said to be due to technical difficulties in finalising the required centralised data holding system and getting all external Schengen area border points equipped.
France, Germany and The Netherlands said they were not ready for a launch, which was a key factor in the recent statement by an EU commissioner that the November 10 target is "no longer on the table".
Read more: France one of countries officially 'not ready' for EES - delay expected
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said officials will examine the legal feasibility of “phasing in” EES at certain border points and not others. This examination is still ongoing according to the latest reports from EU-Lisa, the agency in charge of the central IT system.
How will EES work?
The new controls are due to be carried out at all points where non-EU citizen visitors to the area cross the Schengen area's borders, in or out.
On first travel in or out after launch, the controls will involve collection of visitors’ passport details, a facial image and a scan of fingerprints.
Some basic questions will also be asked about the nature of the trip.
A database entry will be retained and used to log a person’s future entries and exits.
People with EU residency cards and visas will be exempt but are expected to be caught up in the queues as border police will take longer to check travellers.
EES should track the 90/180 days rule, where applicable, meaning passport stamping could be phased out.
France and UK prepare for EES
Eurostar and Eurotunnel say they are ready for EES. Both have installed pre-registration kiosks, which at Eurotunnel add up to 224 kiosks on both sides of the Channel.
However, Normandy’s Channel ports said in mid-October that their pre-registration kiosks for coach and foot passengers were still empty shells without computer consoles.
Read more: French ferry ports: ‘IT and tablets not ready for EES border changes’
They are also still awaiting delivery of the tablets that will be used to process car passengers. French authorities were also yet to activate systems to allow data collected in the ports to be transmitted to the central database.
The Union des Aéroports Français has also several times spoken to The Connexion about concerns over readiness, notably that there had been no time for testing of pre-registration kiosks at the busy Paris airports, linked to the Olympics and Paralypics this year.
Both ports and airports are also facing the need to recruit new workers to help passengers use kiosks or tablets.
Rennes airport has opened a 300m2 building for processing arriving passengers, due to the changes, and says it plans to register all non-EU foreigners coming from outside Schengen in EES and to use just two queues – EU and non-EU nationals.
Read more: Rennes airport opens 300m2 building for new EU border controls
However, foreign residents in the EU should not be registered, according to sources from the EU, French and UK authorities.
The UK’s Living in France guide says documents allowing EES exemption include all forms of valid residency permits issued by an EU country.
The UK has stressed that foreign families lilving in France must get DCEM travel documents for under-18s in order to prove that they are exempt, as they are unlikely to have their own residency cards.
Read more: Urgent foreign families in France apply for travel document
John Keefe of Getlink, speaking at a recent House of Lords meeting in the UK, said he hoped all parties could "make the most" of the new delay.
"Obviously, the testing needs to be rigorous, and that is at the EU end of the
system," he said, adding that Eurotunnel, having had all the basics in place, is now looking at improvements, such as better image capture.
The firm also hopes to work with the EU and France on more technology to speed things up, he said. Notably, the EU has been developing a phone app to enable collection of some passenger data in advance, but so far it is unclear what data will be included, and it was not expected to be ready for November 10.
He said, however, he understands that the app, when ready, will only be available for use by passengers on subsequent entries, not the first time they are registered in EES.
Mr Keefe also explained his understanding of "phasing in".
"We
expect that the EU will not go for a big bang across every point of entry at the same time. It may reduce the requirement for data capture possibly to facial biometrics or
fingerprints only, but we do not have clarity.
"Possibly, it would start in a small,
poorly frequented point of entry to the EU where it would not generate large
volumes of traffic. At the moment, that whole question remains to be answered by
the EU."
