Holidaymakers from Britain will face four mandatory questions when the European Union‘s new border system launches next month. The long-awaited Entry/Exit System, which has faced multiple delays, is finally set to go live on October 12.

The EES will track the movements of “third-country nationals” entering and exiting the Schengen Area, doing away with the need for passport stamps. One of its key aims is to modernise travel records to ensure the 90-day limit within a 180-day period for non-EU passport holders isn’t breached, while strengthening border security. Data will generally remain stored for three years.

Travellers who refuse to provide information may be denied entry. Alongside submitting biometric information and having passports scanned, visitors must respond to four questions – either via automated kiosks or border officials.

These are:

1. Do you have somewhere to stay?
2. Do you have a return ticket?
3. Do you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your stay?
4. Do you have medical insurance?

It remains unclear what happens if passengers respond “no” to any queries, or provide false information.

Simon Lejeune, Eurostar’s chief safety, stations, and security officer, appeared on Wednesday morning to unveil the kiosks that will start collecting British travellers’ data next month.

He indicated that travellers would be instructed to speak with a border official if they responded “no”. They could subsequently be denied entry to the nation.

A government spokesperson informed The Mirror: “From 12th October, passengers who register for EES at a kiosk may need to answer a series of questions. If a traveller answers ‘no’ to any of these questions, they will be directed to speak with a border guard for further discussion. This is a normal part of border procedures, which is designed to ensure smooth and secure travel.”

There are substantial worries that this fresh system might trigger additional bottlenecks at ports, worsening the travel mayhem that has become synonymous with summer breaks since the Covid restrictions.

Digital Travel reporter at The Mirror, Milo Boyd secured an early preview of the EES at St Pancras, and found Eurostar and St Pancras have poured considerable resources into addressing the challenge, installing express kiosks to manage the prolonged border procedure. Should matters go awry, as they undoubtedly will, extra officers stand ready to manually handle travellers.

The introduction of the EES will be phased, both at St Pancras and additional ports throughout Europe. Only Eurostar’s Premier and Carte Blanche patrons will be required to utilise the EES from October 12.

A small number of standard ticket purchasers might be requested, though it’s probable very few will be. Initially, biometrics like fingerprints won’t be collected. This will only start in mid-December and not for all passengers using EES.

By January, all kiosks at Eurostar’s St Pancras and Gare du Nord terminals will be operational, and a broader passenger sign-up will commence. Fingerprints will be taken, and all eligible customers will be urged to pre-register before border control.

Once you’ve registered once, you won’t need to do it again for another three years. In theory, this should make border checks faster, as border officers only verify the data of those registered.

Mr Lejeune clarified that registration should take about two minutes per person, meaning the process of getting through border control would take slightly longer if you’ve not used EES before.

When reporter Milo had the opportunity to see one of the 49 new kiosks installed at St Pancras in action, the process was considerably quicker. From beginning to end, it took just over a minute.

If something does go wrong, such as the machine failing to recognise a passport, then an expanded team of human border guards will be available to assist. The number of guard booths has been doubled from nine to 18.