With the EU’s biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) already in phased operation, UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander met EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas in Brussels on 13 July, releasing a joint statement on 14 July 2026. The talks focused on averting holiday-season bottlenecks at juxtaposed controls such as Eurostar’s Brussels-Midi terminal and the Port of Dover. The UK pledged an extra £20 million to expand French-operated border booths in Kent—on top of £10.5 million spent earlier in 2026—while the Commission agreed to deploy additional mobile EES enrolment kiosks at high-volume stations in Brussels, Lille, and Paris. Both sides will run a real-time dashboard sharing queue-length data with operators including Eurostar and Thalys. Belgian business-travel managers should note that, from 1 August, British passport-holders boarding in Brussels will be asked to pre-register facial and fingerprint biometrics via a dedicated app to reduce boarding-gate processing times. Carriers failing to verify EES compliance risk fines of up to €5,000 per non-compliant passenger under Belgium’s updated Alien Act. The meeting also touched on the forthcoming European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). EU officials confirmed the launch window remains “late 2026”, with a pilot starting at Brussels Airport in November. Multinational companies are advised to audit data-capture processes for non-EU assignees transiting Belgium to avoid last-minute travel denials.
Source: UK Department for Transport
