- Transport Secretary and EU commissioner agree to work together with the aim of the smoothest possible EES checks ahead of the busy summer period
- £20 million of new government funding has been announced for Kent to help reduce queues – boosting infrastructure and minimising disruption
- Builds on existing departmental support for measures designed to prioritise the safety and welfare of passengers
This is what they are queueing up for — MT Rainey took these pictures in Annecy, France.
by Jennie Ritchie
The Transport Secretary has today (Monday 13th July) spoken with the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism about supporting holidaymakers through the EU’s enhanced security checks, during the summer holidays.
During a productive meeting, Heidi Alexander and EU Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas discussed the EU Entry/Exit System (EES). The Transport Secretary raised concerns over travellers looking to get away, and the two counterparts agreed to work together constructively to ensure travel across the border is as seamless as possible in the summer and through the autumn.
The meeting comes after the government announced £20m of funding to increase the number of booths for passport checks at Port of Dover, on top of £10.5m already invested at Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar to prevent disruption. This £20 million in support will also help increase capacity for processing vehicles, reducing wait times and easing congestion in future years.
Industry partners have also, this morning, welcomed the Transport Secretary’s engagement, support and personal interest in their work to prepare for the peak period. Doug Bannister, CEO at the Port of Dover, said he was “really grateful for all the support” from government.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said:
“We want everyone to have the summer holidays they deserve – and today’s meeting shows everyone is pulling in the same direction.
“I was reassured that the EU commissioner for transport understood the concerns of holidaymakers and recognised the need for us to work together to make sure journeys are as seamless as possible during the busiest travel period of the year.”
EES – a requirement for all non-EU passengers entering and exiting Schengen countries – was first introduced in phases in October 2025. Since April, passengers should be registered at the border by scanning their passport, plus having their photo and fingerprints taken.
The majority of these checks will be done in EU Member States but take place in the UK for those using the ferry through the Port of Dover or taking the train into the EU, and has been put in place to boost border security.
- Keep in touch with home through The Dumbarton Democrat this summer. Our news and visitors online media platform averages 9.6K views over 30 days. Official figures from Microsoft.
Electronic tracking, fingerprinting, facial recognition its all here.
And its not just at points of exit or arrival such as ferry ports, airports ports, train terminal or road and rail crossing points.
Tracking is being extended all around and within our very own Bonnie Scotland.
How many people realize that ANPR cameras record every car as to when it passes one of thousands and thousands of ANPR cameras all over the country. And the system keeps a rsearcheable record for at least 7 years. Give me a report of where and when vehicle X has been and its all there. And it can track in real time too, either watching or as a system to hunt a certain vehicle.
And recently with the Home Office implemented project Servator, military police forces like the Defence Police or the Nuclear Police are embedded into our civilian police with facial recognition equipment and tracking drones. Think about that the next time they do a stop search surveillance at the shopping mall at Loch Lomond Shores or at football fans going to Ibrox or Parhead stadia. And yes Glasgow City centre has a facial recognition network of cameras that can track people of interest as the move about the city.
But not a jot of concern or scrutiny from our population. They know that they dont need oversight of the ever more ubiquitous surveillance. They know our politicians are utterly honest and that we are all well looked after, or is it looked over, for our own good.
Our elite masters would not have it any other way. So we should all enjoy and fear not. All our very best interests in our very best democracy in our very fair and equal society are in place.
Or am I missing something?