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  We have let EU passport holders (and many other nationalities) through e gates throughout the Brexit period, and since.
  
  Whereas they disbarred us from theirs because we are now”third country nationals” and as things stand intend to fingerprint photograph and question all U.K. visitors under their new entry / exit system which is now slated to come in later this year. All at the border, causing longer queues than we see there already.
  
  Meanwhile @ukhomeoffice has allowed EU passport holders to register on line before travel by mobile app without any requirement for fingerprints or delays on arrival.
  
  Why so, I wonder? The risks are the same - in fact arguably greater for the U.K. than the EU. Similarly, the Customs checks introduced post Brexit at EU ports have been significantly more onerous than those imposed by the U.K. on EU imports.
  
  Looks a lot like Brexit punishment to me rather than a reasonable borders reset based on risk.
  
  Look forward to seeing what this new deal means for travellers and businesses in reality - the devil will be in the detail.
  
  The big sticking point is the fingerprint requirement. Under the current EU regulation all U.K. passport holders will have to give their fingerprints at first arrival in the EU, under the supervision of an EU border guard. This is because (unlike photos) you can’t bind the holder to the document like you can with photos (because there aren’t any fingerprints in the passport chip to match against).
  
  The U.K. has avoided this by taking a calculated risk that we won’t require fingerprints from EU visitors at all - either at the border or inland.
  
  The capture of fingerprints at EU entry points will be extremely onerous, especially for British families boarding trains and ferries to France. Everyone will have to exit their vehicle and scan passport face and finger and answer questions on kiosks before boarding. Then they still need to present to an officer.
  
  At airports the e gates or kiosks will still be supervised by officers with the same requirements - and will take longer than current manual examinations and stamping under the existing system.
  
  Once registered, return visits might be easier as face could then act as the identifier on each trip and we could develop mobile apps to do it away from the border (unsupervised).
  
  ** The best result will be for the EU to ditch the fingerprinting requirement on U.K. passport holders altogether. If this deal allows that, then hats off to HMG.
  
  But just a deal to use e gates without reducing enrolment requirements will not make things any easier (in fact most likely worse) in terms of queues at EU ports of entry.
  
  Tony Smith CBE
  
  (** They haven't. Capt Haddock)

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