Post-Brexit Border Checks Set to Double Queuing Times at French Ports and Stations

The Next Brexit Disruption Is Coming

British travellers heading to France should brace themselves for significantly longer waits at borders. A report by the Cour des Comptes, France's public finance watchdog, has revealed that queuing times could more than double when the European Union's Entry/Exit System (EES) goes live -- and in some cases, they could triple.

The system will require every non-EU national entering the Schengen area to provide fingerprints, a facial photograph, and passport data at the point of entry. For the tens of millions of British tourists who cross into France each year, this represents a fundamental change to how they pass through the border.

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What Is the Entry/Exit System

The EES is the EU's new digital border management system designed to replace the manual stamping of passports. It will create a centralised database of all third-country nationals (including British citizens) entering and exiting the Schengen zone.

At first registration, every traveller will need to:

• Have their passport scanned
• Provide four fingerprints
• Have a facial photograph taken

Subsequent visits will be faster, as data will already be in the system. But the initial registration process is where the bottleneck will occur.

Trials have suggested that the new system could add approximately two minutes per person at the border, whether arriving by air, sea, or rail.

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France Prepares for the Surge

France has ordered more than 500 data kiosks and 250 tablets to process travellers, including passengers arriving in their vehicles on ferries. The equipment is intended to speed up the registration process and prevent catastrophic queues at airports, ports, and the Eurostar terminal.

However, even with this preparation, the Cour des Comptes report paints a sobering picture. The initial processing of millions of first-time registrations will inevitably create delays, particularly during peak summer travel periods when French borders are already under strain.

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Could Travellers Switch to Flying

One of the report's most striking findings is that the increased border delays could push travellers toward air travel. "Doubling or even tripling waiting time could drive some travellers to opt for a plane," the report states.

This has significant implications for the Eurostar service between London St Pancras and Paris, as well as for ferry operators running routes from Dover, Folkestone, and other Channel ports. If large numbers of travellers switch to flying, it could undermine the economic viability of these cross-Channel services while increasing the carbon footprint of UK-France travel.

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Industry Voices Sound the Alarm

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy the PC Agency, warned: "Getting into Europe needs to be more seamless, not more cumbersome. The processing of passengers will have to be much faster otherwise peak periods will become unbearable for those stuck in ever-longer queues."

Simon Calder, travel correspondent for The Independent, placed the responsibility squarely on those who championed Brexit: "After the democratic decision to leave the European Union, the UK government negotiated for British passport holders to become third-country citizens -- and for hard EU frontiers at Dover and Folkestone."

He added: "The queues seen since we demanded all British passports must be checked and stamped should not be a surprise for anyone -- and when fingerprinting and facial biometrics become mandatory the process will become even tougher."

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A Long Time Coming

Proposals for smart borders were first raised by the EU in 2015, and the EES was formally adopted in early 2016 -- months before the Brexit referendum. The system has been hit by repeated delays but implementation now appears imminent.

After the UK's departure from the EU, British passport holders were reclassified as third-country nationals, placing them in the same category as travellers from countries outside the EU and requiring full border checks on every entry.

What Travellers Can Expect

For the immediate future, British travellers crossing into France can expect:

• Longer initial waits at ports, airports, and the Eurostar terminal
• A requirement to provide biometric data on their first visit under the new system
• Faster subsequent passages once registered in the EES database
• Potential disruption during peak holiday periods

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The practical reality is that crossing the Channel as a British citizen will become a slower, more bureaucratic process. Whether this is seen as a necessary consequence of Brexit or an avoidable burden depends largely on one's perspective -- but the queues themselves will be very real.