Biometric travel scheme Officials fear chaos at UK ports unless EU delays plans again
The Guardian|July 09, 2024
Government officials fear chaos and tailbacks at UK ports in three months' time unless the EU again delays plans to introduce a biometric travel registration scheme requiring facial and fingerprint scanning.
Patrick Wintour
Biometric travel scheme Officials fear chaos at UK ports unless EU delays plans again

From 6 October all non-EU nationals will be required to register their biometric information the first time they cross the EU border under a new entry-exit system.

The scheme's introduction is seen as a critical moment when British citizens, as opposed to business, will suddenly feel the impact of the end of free movement on their daily lives.

Part of the problem is that an app prepared by the EU and Frontex that is supposed to streamline the process of registering individual data is not yet ready.

The aim of the app is for non-EU citizens to register their details before starting their journeys rather than having to do so when reaching a border crossing.

The scheme could also become an early test of whether the new Labour government's offer to have a more cooperative relationship with the European Commission bears any practical fruit, and that it can ease inherited headaches such as these.

Rishi Sunak had been privately pressing for the EU to give UK citizens full access to the bloc's e-gates, but that appeared a political nonstarter.

This story is from the July 09, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the July 09, 2024 edition of The Guardian.

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