French authorities suspended the European Union’s new digital border check system at Britain’s Port of Dover on Saturday, as traffic piled up at the UK ferry terminal at the start of the long weekend.
Travellers were facing wait times of over two hours at the terminal in southern England to get the cross-Channel ferry to France, the Port of Dover said in traffic updates.
It said it was the “first peak period” since the introduction of the so-called Entry/Exit System (EES).
READ ALSO: Full rollout of new EU border checks hit by delays and disruption
The EES is used by EU countries — with the exception of Ireland and Cyprus — and other nations that are part of the Schengen free movement area, including Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
Non-EU passengers and some transport providers have raised concerns about the new system — especially in Britain, which left the EU in 2020 under Brexit.
The system, which became fully operational in April, replaces passport stamps with a digital registration to make the EU’s borders more secure, more efficient and stronger against irregular migration, according to the European Commission.
Responding to the “challenging situation” at the port, French border control police (PAF) suspended the system, the Port of Dover said, adding that “conventional border checks will still be undertaken”.
“This will now enable PAF to signficantly reduce the border processing time,” the port authority said in a statement posted on X.
Images showed snaking queues of cars at the congested terminal, which is the departure point for ferries to Calais in northern France, a popular route for British tourists, especially at the start of the half-term school holidays.
READ ALSO: What will new EES border checks mean for non-EU residents in Europe?
