EES: a welcome delay

It has been the week of two delays. The first - that of a decision on Lower Thames Crossing until next May - which came on Monday, was deeply disappointing. The second - that of the introduction of the EU’s new external frontier checks, the Entry Exit System (EES) - is likely to be positive for Kent residents. 

EES was scheduled to be introduced - after many delays and falls starts - at 2 am on Sunday 10 November. However, late on Thursday afternoon, a month before the planned commencement of EES, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson announced a further delay, stating that 10 November would not go ahead and that there would be “a phased approach” to introduction. This reflected major Member States, including France, Germany and the Netherlands reporting that they were not ready to go ahead, citing technological problems and in particular the interface with EU-wide systems.

In Kent, we were not banking on this delay, even as it came to look more and more likely. We have been raising the issue for years, and in January I gave evidence to a parliamentary committee about the risks that EES introduction posed to Kent, in particular spillover of delays in the highly constrained Eastern Docks at the Port of Dover onto the county’s roads. In July, Leaders of councils in Kent came together to highlight the issue to the new government. Ministers have provided additional funding to the points of departure, works have begun to develop sites at the Western Docks and partners in the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum have developed extensive contingency plans. 

Nonetheless, the delay is helpful, giving more time for some of these projects to develop and for discussions with the French authorities over a pragmatic approach to the introduction of the new system. While the approach to introduction of EES is now unclear, it may give scope for a gradual approach (enabling, for example, first registrations to be undertaken at quieter times only, easing the whole process of introduction of the new system) or perhaps even a move to operate remote registration from the start (which neither systems nor regulations are currently set up for). 

The announcement generated a lot of media interest, and I gave interviews to BBC South East, ITV Meridian and Heart/ LBC (I had already spoken to BBC Radio Kent on Thursday morning before the Commission’s announcement). You can also find our media release about the delay here. We will now await more details but, for the present at least, this is good news. 

Kent Leaders warn on EES

The European Entry Exit System (EES), the new external frontier of the European Union, comes into force in the autumn. The expected date of implementation had for some time been 6 October, although there are now widespread expectations that it will be delayed a little, until 10 November or another Sunday later in the month. 

The consequences of this for Kent are potentially significant, reflecting the pressures which these new checks will put on the points of exit, especially the Port of Dover, which could then spill over onto the road network, creating major disruption. At Kent County Council, we have been raising the issue for a number of years and earlier this year I gave evidence on the issue to a parliamentary committee. 

Last week, Leaders of all 14 councils in the historic county (KCC, Medway and the 12 Districts and Boroughs) signed a letter to government setting out our concerns and urging action to share information, coordinate communication both with Kent residents and nationally, accelerate measures that can ease pressure on the highly constrained Eastern Docks in particular and to work with France and the EU to manage the implementation in a flexible way. The letter also reminded ministers that this is an occasion not only to address the immediate issues of the EES but also the long-running pressures that the border issue puts on the county, reflected in the use of Operation Brock.

There are some encouraging signs. The previous week saw a visit from the new roads minister, Lilian Greenwood, and the last two weekends have proved relatively manageable if occasionally difficult, reflecting the start of the summer getaway and (for the first weekend) the impact of the worldwide IT outage. This positive performance reflected, among other things, the deployment of a permit system for freight vehicles and the active role played by the French border authorities, the PAF. 

Nonetheless, the risks remain severe and there is a lot to be done. The joint letter is part of that effort. 

A big day in Dover

I posted in early February about our concerns over the potential impact of the EU’s introduction of its Entry Exit System (EES) on traffic and other disruption in Kent. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to visit both Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover to see their preparations, and government has emphasised its recognition of the importance of the issue and the actions it is taking to address it. (A good example of this was the session of the European Scrutiny Committee, to which I had previously given evidence, on 1 May with Home Office Minister Tom Pursglove and Transport Minister Guy Opperman). 

Today Radio 4’s PM Programme was broadcast from Dover; the intended focus was on the EES issue, and I was interviewed towards the end of the programme. All of which was somewhat upended by the announcement at lunchtime that Dover’s Conservative MP, Natalie Elphicke, had crossed the floor to Labour. 

Nonetheless, EES did get some coverage; my interview is towards the end, at about 53 minutes in. After some unsurprising questions about the MP, I was able to put across both the work that is being done and the continuing risks and challenges. What we need is early sharing of national data so that we are clear as to what must be done; as much as possible to secure pre-registration to ease the pressure on the highly constrained Port site; funding to address some of the local needs, such as road maintenance on heavily used diversion routes and driver welfare sites and facilities; and recognition that, while this is an issue playing out in Kent, it is also of national significance and impact.