The announcement by the EU of the actual date when they plan to implement the new Entry/Exit System (EES) has caused quite a stir in the British press, especially the section of it that campaigned heavily for Brexit. There is widespread irritation bordering on anger that the EU intends to strengthen its external border by introducing fingerprinting and biometric checks for non-EU visitors from October 2024. It seems taking control of borders is something only the UK should be permitted to do.
The headline in The Daily Mail claims: Fury over fingerprint checks and facial scans for holidays in Europe: Experts warn of 'border bottlenecks' next autumn with introduction of post-Brexit entry rules on entry into the EU
Reading the text, however, it’s hard to find who actually reacted with ‘fury.’ That seems to be confined to the Mail’s own newsroom which is filled with a lot of confected outrage that the French in particular have the nerve to delay plucky British holidaymakers venturing onto the continent.
The Mail concentrates mainly on EU countries who they say have "expressed concern" that the border processes are going to take up to four times longer. Slovenia and Austria are mentioned. The paper says that "British and non-EU passport holders will have to go through fingerprint checks and face scans under the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES)" - get that, British AND non-EU as if we are in a class of our own somewhere between EU and non-EU.
The Daily Express, a sort of tabloid equivalent of a paranoid schizophrenic having a nervous breakdown, had this: Airport chaos as border check times for Brits set to 'double or triple' under EU rules. The paper added that the new delays "could even be worsened by the introduction at the same time of another travel check - the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) which will see all those crossing the EU border undergo US-style criminal record checks."
Meanwhile, over at The Telegraph, they had a slightly more restrained but no less worrying headline for travellers next year: Britons travelling to the EU next autumn face triple the wait at border control
There was no acknowledgement in any of the three reports of the key role the newspapers played in making sure British travellers faced delays at the borders with EU member states after Brexit.
The Telegraph tried to play it down by saying, "Even though the average check time has increased since Brexit for Eurostar, doubling or even tripling waiting time could drive some travellers to opt for a plane,”
"However, although there have been issues since Brexit, with long Eurostar queues at St Pancras station, airports and ports would be likely to face the same problem."
The Express said, "Even though the average check time has increased since Brexit for Eurostar, doubling or tripling wait time could drive some travellers to opt for a plane."
"However, similar delays will likely be faced also at airports and ports. Tests of the system showed the new procedure in these areas added two minutes to the time it takes to pass through checks."
You might wonder how it was that two British newspapers managed to get such similar sentences into their pieces. The words came from a report, published in June by the French public finance watchdog Cour des Comptes (a bit like our Audit Office) which suggested there had been insufficient preparation for the new border checks and there would be long delays at border crossings.
Quite why it took so long to get into the press here I don't know. Presumably, it's because the implementation date has now been fixed as October 2024, after the Olympics in France when things are a bit quieter.
Nowhere in the reports is there an apology or any contrition that the newspapers massively behind Brexit for years, well before 2016, had any part to play in the coming 'chaos'. Millions of travellers are going to be inconvenienced when crossing the EU's external border after 2024.
It's as if what they wanted was some sort of selective non-return valve which only affected non-Brits coming into this country from Europe, but allowed them and British passport holders to return across the EU border with the same ease as EU citizens.
Worse, nobody has been shouting louder about the need to take back control of our borders or castigating the EU for being unable to solve the refugee crisis. When the EU take steps to tighten checks on who is coming and going into their territory and for how long they are staying there is 'fury.'
More insanity of Brexit.
