Exciting developments may be in store for everyone travelling to Europe from this autumn onwards. That’s to say riots, gnashing of teeth and screaming infants at border control, as stressed travellers and immigration officers go mad trying to navigate a new and apparently dysfunctional European frontier system. This latest gift from our EU overseers looks like it will make life hell for legitimate travellers, while of course doing nothing to stop the surge of unpapered migrants crossing into Europe across the Mediterranean.
Irony is not a feature of European public administration
‘I’m worried, I’m afraid of problems,’ admits Patrice Vergriete, the French Minister of Transport. The Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the House of Lords has called on the government to ‘use all diplomatic efforts’ to persuade Brussels to defer the introduction of the new system, which it warns will cause chaos at Saint Pancras and Dover. That’s gone nowhere.
A smartphone application that’s supposed to lubricate this process is, predictably, not ready.
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