100 days to avoid Brexit border chaos as Labour urged to get a grip

Ministers are being warned they have just 100 days to get to grips with the introduction of new EU border controls, which are feared will lead to 14-hour queues and rotting food in stranded lorries.

The long-delayed introduction of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) – which will force British travellers to the continent to provide fingerprints, a photo and passport details – is scheduled for November and concerns are growing about the delays and chaos it could cause.

Nichola Mallon, head of trade at Logistics UK – which represents the freight industry – warned that “time is running out” and that there is an “urgent need” for the government to share its modelling on EES congestion at ports such as Dover.

“We understand it couldn’t be shared during the pre-election period,” she said i“But we are now past the elections, so it is essential that that scenario planning and that data is shared urgently.”

She added: “If (lorries) are carrying British exports, which are perishable goods, every hour the lorry is stationary reduces its shelf life, reduces its value and increases the risk of waste.”

Labour’s Brexit reset minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has raised the looming threat of the new checks in talks with Brussels and has pressed the EU to help avoid travel chaos. i understands. But it would not provide further details about what was being asked.

Steve Burns, director at MBS Inter Mar, a Scottish exporter of live shellfish, said EES could cause “absolute chaos” for lorries travelling to Europe, with thousands of kilos of fish lost.

The company ships langoustines, lobster and scallops to the mainland and had 13 pallets of live shellfish en route to Europe on Wednesday, worth around €30,000 (£25,200).

“When you have perishable goods, it’s like turning an egg timer. And when the sand runs through the hourglass, thousands of pounds of goods can become worthless overnight,” he said.

“Being 10 minutes late is like being 24 hours late because you missed your connection… You get queues at the border and that means our lorries are delayed. You’ve lost £20,000 in that disaster. How do you make up for that?”

The system for getting goods into Europe was already on edge every week, he said, with exporters struggling with bureaucracy after Brexit.

The potential for a crisis comes as Sir Keir Starmer and his team take a warmer tone towards the EU, seeking to secure deals to improve security and facilitate cross-border trade.

Former Conservative foreign secretary Lord Cameron has made the looming border checks a top priority in talks with European colleagues, urging them to be delayed or for the EU to give the UK a chance to limit the impact of the checks, for example by feeding its biometric data into a remote app.

This week, Labour transferred responsibility for direct EU relations from the Foreign Office to the Cabinet led by Thomas-Symonds.

i understands that ministers are walking a diplomatic tightrope in negotiations with the EU as they try to build goodwill over their push for a far-reaching security pact and a veterinary agreement to ease the import and export of food and agricultural products – crucial to Starmer’s Brexit reset – amid warnings from Europe that there will be no ‘cherry-picking’ for the UK.

But it is France, not the EU, that is responsible for actually implementing checks at British ports such as Dover, Eurostar and Eurotunnel. And foreign ministers have not raised the EES in bilateral talks with European colleagues.

A joint statement from Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron following last week’s talks made no mention of the upcoming checks.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has discussed the measures with her European counterparts, but is focusing more on what preparations the UK can make than on extracting concessions.

Ms Mallon, from the freight industry, said: “We understand they have a significant in-tray, but we have consistently stressed that EES is one of our biggest concerns.”

With the clock ticking until the new biometric checks system goes live, council bosses have also called on the government to share data showing how bad the queues could be so preparations can be beefed up. Port bosses want a new deal with the EU.

Mystery surrounding EU app that could shorten waiting times

There is no confirmed date yet for the introduction of an EU app being developed by member states to reduce waiting times at checkpoints such as Dover and the Eurostar at St Pancras.

Nichola Mallon of Logistics UK described the app as a potential “absolute game-changer” as it would allow travellers to register at home rather than being processed at border controls. However, she expressed concerns that the app will not be ready for summer 2025 as previously hoped.

And while passengers would suffer the most from the queues at Dover, freight traffic would also pay the ‘bump’ as drivers become caught up in Operation Brock and Dover TAP traffic measures as congestion at the port increases.

Ms Mallon added: “Operation Brock has had a significant impact on freight. And it was intended to be the exception rather than the rule.

“We are concerned that Brock and TAP, with EES and without the ability to move processing away from the physical border, will become the rule rather than the exception.

“And that’s far from ideal for truck drivers, especially when there’s a lack of driver welfare facilities.

She also urged the government to launch a public information campaign so that British citizens know what they need to present when travelling to Europe once EES comes into force.

Port of Dover CEO Doug Bannister said the EU had agreed an EES “release valve” that would allow authorities to “taper down” the number of biometric enrolments carried out at gateways during busy periods. But he suggested the new government could still negotiate a deal to soften the impact.

“If this new government wants to tackle this and see if we can fundamentally change the way this is implemented through good cooperation with the European Union, then we have 100 days to do that,” he said.

“If there are things the new government could do to ease the burden on British passport holders in terms of how they register their details on the EES, that would be a huge benefit.”

Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association, urged the new government to step up preparations for EES.

He said: “I would say it’s fair to say that the industry feels the government hasn’t done enough in the UK over the last three or four years.

“The EU has not taken this challenge seriously enough and probably has not fully understood what the problem is, because ultimately this is a policy and operational change imposed on us by the European Union.

“The issue may require a diplomatic negotiation agreement. A small delay is probably very helpful, of course, but ultimately I think we need something where there is a policy decision from the EU that allows the checks and many of the processes to be done outside the border.”

Anand Menon, director of the British think tank Changing Europe, said i The government struggled to strike a balance on the EES, as it wanted to implement the Brexit reset on the one hand, and maintain the red line of not allowing the return of free movement of people on the other.

“They will be under pressure to do something about it (EES) because even if you don’t need a visa, you will have to give fingerprints and iris scans and that will cause queues,” he said.

“This is where the politics get interesting, because EES cannot be resolved as another example of Boris Johnson’s failed Brexit deal. It is part of Brexit that Labour agrees with in principle.

“So it has to be managed very carefully by Labour… The danger they run is that this will be used by those who want a relationship with the EU that is closer than what they are proposing.”

A European Commission spokeswoman said: “The Entry/Exit System enables automation of border controls, which should facilitate the experience of travellers at border crossings.

“In addition, the Commission is facilitating the introduction of this new system and the aim is to allow travellers to pre-register before arriving at the border crossings.

“The Commission is in close contact with industry representatives, is aware of the concerns raised so far and will continue the dialogue. Our partners are expected to make the necessary preparations at all border crossings.”

A UK government spokeswoman said: “The government has raised several issues, including EES, in its initial discussions with the EU and is reviewing the preparations made so far, ahead of EES being introduced by the EU.”