LONDON: French authorities suspended the European Union’s new digital border check system at Britain’s Port of Dover on Saturday, as traffic piled up at the UK ferry terminal at the start of the long weekend.

Travellers were facing wait times of over two hours at the terminal in southern England to get the cross-Channel ferry to France, the Port of Dover said in traffic updates.

It said it was the “first peak period” since the introduction of the so-called Entry/Exit System (EES). The EES is used by EU countries — with the exception of Ireland and Cyprus — and other nations that are part of the Schengen free movement area, including Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

Non-EU passengers and some transport providers have raised concerns about the new system — especially in Britain, which left the EU in 2020 under Brexit.

The system, which became fully operational in April, replaces passport stamps with a digital registration to make the EU’s borders more secure, more efficient and stronger against irregular migration, according to the European Commission.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2026