French authorities temporarily suspended new European Union border checks at the Port of Dover on Saturday after the new system triggered major delays for travellers heading from Britain to continental Europe.
The disruption came during the UK’s bank holiday weekend, one of the busiest travel periods of the year, with passengers reportedly waiting up to four hours to clear French border controls before boarding ferries to France.
The delays were linked to the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), a digital border control scheme for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen Area, which includes most EU countries. Under the system, British citizens must provide fingerprints and facial photographs when entering Europe.
Port officials said French border police activated an emergency provision allowing them to suspend parts of the checks and return to conventional processing in order to ease congestion.
The Port of Dover, Britain’s main ferry gateway to Europe, warned earlier that roads around the port were heavily congested, with thousands of passengers expected to travel over the weekend.
The problems also renewed concerns about the practical impact of the EU’s new border technology, which has already faced criticism over delays and data privacy concerns.
