“The EU’s decision to adopt a pragmatic approach to the implementation of the Entry/Exit System (EES), to keep borders flowing, will come as a relief to the logistics sector and those operating our key trading gateways with France,” said Ben Fletcher, Chief Executive of business group Logistics UK.
His comments come after it was announced that France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland have been allowed to delay full implementation of EES to “maintain border fluidity”.
“Logistics UK has warned consistently that EES must not be allowed to create unnecessary delays for freight and trade,” continues Mr Fletcher. “Almost 60% of UK–EU trade in goods travels via the Short Straits, and our analysis shows that even a 90-minute delay to the 3.35 million HGVs using these crossings could cost the economy £400 million a year.
“Keeping goods moving smoothly between the UK and EU, and fixing unnecessary trade friction, is in everyone’s economic interest and essential to supporting trade-led growth. Now that France and several other European countries have been given the flexibility to ease EES checks where necessary, the priority must be to use that breathing space to resolve the remaining technical issues and ensure that further implementation is properly tested, phased and based on what works operationally at the border.”
