The Foreign Secretary to the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee there could be "long delays" when the EU's new passport entry system is introduced later this year. Credit: UK Parliament
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00:00 Thank you Chairman, Foreign Secretary, after a big chunk of the meeting on Gibraltar you may or may not be relieved to know we're moving on to the EU entry/exit system.
00:11 The committee's done significant work on this. We know Go Live is meant to be in October, although there is still some fuzziness around that date.
00:21 There are considerable concerns from the County of Kent, from the road haulage sector, from coach operators, from the general travelling public about the delays that may come about due to some of the requirements of the entry/exit system.
00:38 So, for the committee's knowledge, can you tell us what UK EU forums you've raised concerns about EES in? And are we partially in the dark on some areas of its implementation?
00:55 I literally raise it everywhere I go, from President Macron to Foreign Minister Colonna, now her replacement, Stefan Sojourner, I've raised it with Sefcovic, with anyone from the Commission I ever meet.
01:09 I raise it everywhere because I think we've made some progress. I think you heard from some of the relevant ministers. We're making some progress, but it's still worrying because we do have these big choke points at Dover and St Pancras.
01:28 I'm really worried about there being long delays for people. I think it's not clear to me that technology still needs testing and improving and all the rest of it. We've got to do everything we can domestically to get ready for it.
01:42 There's a lot of work being done and we have regular meetings of all the relevant ministers in a sort of sprint to look at where we are, what still needs to be done.