[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Pierre

I’ve just been on a business trip in which I visited the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. Entry and exit points being Germany and the Netherlands in which I had to go through passport control.

In both Instances I did not have to join a “not EU” line. I was directed through the EU passport line both times. The only difference being to EU passport holders I got a stamp. Extra time incurred …nil.

Just thought I’d throw that out there.

The real test will come next May when the Entry Exit System is launched but an increase of up to two minutes does not seem too bad. We shall see.

European nations have warned that new fingerprint and face checks on arriving in the EU could take “up to four times longer” than the present system – with the processing time increased by up to two minutes per person.

The tougher border checks, known as the “Entry Exit System” (EES), are due to come into effect in May 2023 – just ahead of the peak summer season.

The UK helped develop the EES while part of the European Union – then, with the Brexit withdrawal treaty, asked to become subject to the new system.

From next summer, each time a third-country national crosses an EU external border, fingerprints and a facial biometric must be checked.

Because the UK chose to leave the European Union, the number of travellers “caught” by the Entry-Exit System will be much higher than originally envisaged.

Warnings from individual governments appear in a paper published by the General Secretariat of the Council in Brussels.

Views were sought from across the EU about the readiness of the system, and The Independent has analysed their responses.

The Slovenian government modelled the effect of the EES and reported: “It takes up to four times longer to do the new process – border check + enrolment + verification.”

Austria’s authorities said: “We expect process times to double compared to the current situation.”

Poland’s government estimates: “The time for border control of a single passenger will increase by 30-120 seconds, but only in the case of the so-called ‘happy flow’.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel...-b2234413.html