UK e-Borders scheme thrown into confusion by EU rules

So if I'm in Paris...

and I need to get back home to my wife in a hurry... I would have had to book a few days in advance.

Hmmm... now if I WAS in Paris......that sounds like a damn good excuse!

Instead the UK Border Agency (UKBA) will check passengers once they arrive.

Erm. Isnt that what they do anyway ?

Good success rate.

0.0034% of people who have went through the system have been arrested.

Yeah, that was worth the money.

In the immortal words of Nelson Muntz...

Ha-ha!

Eh?

Should the statement not read something like;

"e-Borders is fully compliant with EU law on the basis that people volunteer to hand over the information and if they don't we'll jolly well give them a chinese burn or a finger in the bum"

Then we'll let them in

Paris, finger in the bum of course !

Now I don't like the EU, but..

I am no great fan of the EU and the Brussel's beurocracy that runs it, but they do seem to be light years ahead of our Home Office when it comes to protecting the privacy of individual citizens ( remember the EU courts ruling on the retention of DNA samples ?)

Like it or loath it, the Lisbon Treaty is now law and I think this will be the first of many cases where the British government will be told the error of its ways and simply overridden by our new Lords and Masters in Brussels. I do hope that old Scotty McBroon realises that his betrayal on the Lisbon Treaty will turn our beloved Westminster Parliament into a rambling regional council commitee, beholden and answerable to the great star chamber in the Belgian capital.

I wonder if he has a job waiting for him there, should he fail at the next general election?

Article completely wrong...

Having worked on the bid for this in the past, I can tell you that this article is abdolutely wrong, while I hace pretty much zero respect for the consortium that is delivering this system, what I canntell you is that the hard part of the system is that the only time you can check a persons identity documents in the EU is at the check in desk and that the system and it's precursor (Semaphore - pilot system) do just that, it means you can buy a ticket at the airport, eurostar or ferry terminal on the day of travel and you only need to prove your ID when you commence travel.

What this means from a requirements perspective is that e-Borders has to get a go/no go decision about an individuals right to travel to the UK while they are stood at the desk, the system has less than 5 seconds to communicate this decision back to the airline check in desk. The system stops working and queues result.

When e-Borders makes a decision about a passenger, the system checks the passengers identity against a number of watchlists, some watchlists imply instructions on sctions to take, there are 4 types of action:

1. Deny Access to UK

2. Apprehend on arrival to UK

3. Arrange surveilance of traveller on arrival in UK

4. Pass unimpeded

e-Borders has to arrange for the relevant authority to carry out actions 2&3 while the passenger is in transit so that the action can take place on arrival in the UK.

The Americans attempt to do similar things with their US-Visit system except they dont have the requirement to check documents at the desk, instead they request passport numbers 24 hours in advance of travel so they can deny travel, detain or set up surveilance, this is why Britain couldn't just take the US system, which was also designed by Raytheon.

4,700 arrests

You only crow about the number of arrests when the number of successful prosecutions is negligible.

But, but, but...

... we're doing this because the EU *says* we have to do this...!

Well, that was what the Home Office were claiming, despite the EU not saying anything of the sort.

Glad to see the chickens coming home to roost at last, it's just a pity they pi$$ed away so much of our money first.

=CM=

This situation is confusing: Spain collects API so why can they continue to do so? Freedom of travel in the EU is disrupted by the UKBA and Spain, 1 gets clouted (rightly so). Isn't it time to push Schengen further to the refuseniks.

@ Captain Mainwaring

"I wonder if he has a job waiting for him there, should he fail at the next general election?"

You're as cynical as me.

And, sadly, we're probably both right to be cynical - he'll have made sure he's got a cushy job lined up somewhere unaccountable and lucrative at our expense, just like Teflon Tony...

It would have a use.

It would help the governemtn count *how* many people leave the country. In *principle* it would allow HMG to track who has gone out, avoiding the "we don't know how many people have over stayed their visa" answers given by civil servants to parlimentary committees.

Keeps the Daily Heil fraternity happy and looks like they are doing *something*

With this government that would be c£158 000 pa well spent.

Thumbs down because it is not in my opinion.

What about Spain?

Spain has been doing this for years (so the statement that "someone flying from the UK to Spain needs to submit their name, date of birth and passport details ahead of a flight and well before they got to the airport, or face the risk of being prevented from boarding" is already true). Does that mean it will now be forced to stop?

Pfffft!

C'mon El Reg. I emailed you about this in MAY, when I was required to register my details in advance before I was allowed to fly to Spain! I stated that this seemed to be in contravention of my right to freedom of movement within Europe. (Email was entitled 'War on Tourism' if you want to check your archive). You never even bothered to reply.

I even made the connection that it was not at the request of Spain (as other EU nationals were not required to do this), but likely at the request of our database-building idiots-in-chief!

*wanders off muttering to self about how no-one ever listens*

FAIL designed right into the system

The "e-" in "e-borders" suggest electronics, teh intarwebz, and wonderful goodness for all. Right? Right. Only if that was the case, it would not burden the traveler with bureaucratic red tape and requiring all travel to be planned days in advance. No more hopping on a plane on a lark. In a hurry? Rebooking to an aeroplane because the chunnel is full of stuck trains AND the border collies at calais are striking? Please wait an unspecified number of days while we put far too much of your personal data into this here e-borders system. Watch us fumble, the new specator sport.

The idea of wonderful e-goodness for all should mean less hassle, not more. Why is the government mindlessly aping xenophobia central anyway? Carry on government.

A long time ago in a land downunder...

1995 it was when ETAS was set up - the Electronic Travel Authorization System - linked to all the major ticketing systems in the world.

When a ticket was booked (dest Down-under) the ETAS system (available only to citizens of the 38 or so *trusted* countries) ran it's checks and had three responses before a ticket was sold.

1. Granted

2. Granted (greet on arrival)

3. Refer to Embassy

7 years later in 2002/3 APIS was added to ETAS - a second check - run AFTER the departure of the plane (dest Down-under) linked to airline departure control systems (by law). So then they know you are *really* on the plane and have time to prepare.

Yes - EVERY citizen in the world outside Aust requires a visa - just sometimes you didn't even know you applied for one.