Key facts
- Getlink's Yann Leriche said the Commission and French authorities authorized a two-year trial of eagle-eye cameras at each kiosk.
- Each car pulls up to an individual kiosk with two stands to read passports and capture fingerprints and facial images.
- Leriche said the kiosks are installed but the connection to the French system is still not working.
- Leriche said he will present a 40-page proposal to UK and French authorities in the coming weeks.
- Nine of the 27 EU member states, including France, had not fully deployed EES as of the report.
The European Commission has agreed to a trial of airport-style drive-through biometric controls at Eurotunnel, Getlink chief executive Yann Leriche said in a report published on November 14, 2026. Under the system, an eagle-eye camera already used at Rome and Paris airports to supervise fingerprinting and facial imaging will monitor kiosks at the UK-France border, with police watching remotely rather than standing at each gate.
Both terminals, in Folkestone and Calais, are equipped with 120 kiosks. Each car pulls up to an individual kiosk with two stands to read passports and take fingerprints and facial images, replacing plans to hand passengers a tablet in their cars or have them park and enter the terminal. Leriche said both earlier models would have required police officers to be physically present for first-time fingerprinting.
Leriche said Getlink held "many, many discussions" with the European Commission and French authorities before being authorized to trial the cameras. "The French authorities are also on board because for them it is more efficient, too, so we are all aligned on the trial," he said. The trial is to last two years, and Getlink hopes it becomes permanent.
Leriche said the kiosks are installed and can function, but the connection to the French system is still not working, and he did not know when France will introduce the system. The entry and exit system (EES) requires third-country citizens, including British passport holders, to submit fingerprints and facial images when entering and leaving the Schengen area. It was supposed to be active across the EU by September 9, 2026, but nine of the 27 member states, including France, have yet to deploy it fully because of continued technical issues.
In the coming weeks Leriche will meet UK and French authorities to present a 40-page proposal to make Eurotunnel a "laboratory" for an "intelligent border" drawing on technology and lessons from the US and Singapore. He said the company was inspired by visits to the US-Mexico border, where drivers and passengers remain in their cars. In the week before November 14, it emerged that the EU had filed a lawsuit against IBM and two other companies involved in implementing EES.