After two days of traffic jams at the port of Dover in England, traffic returned to normal on Sunday July 24. On Friday and Saturday, it took several hours to enter the port and cross the border for vacationers. Endless queues that caused a diplomatic dispute between France and the United Kingdom, which reject responsibility for the situation.
” The new normal is chaos », title The Guardian as if to announce the color of the holidays, reports our correspondent in London, Sidonie Gaucher. The “chaos” is long queues at passport control, traffic jams over several tens of kilometers, and not enough resources.
The administration of the port of Dover still wants to reassure travelers: after two days of traffic jams: its summer plan will work for the rest of the holidays. In particular, it provides for police reinforcements to make the passage of vehicles through the Channel Tunnel more fluid.
Sunak and Truss speak with one voice
For the English, the French police are responsible for delays in boarding and are accused of ” ruining british holiday »
In full competition for Presidency of the Conservative Partyformer Chancellor Rishi Sunak says that the French ” need to stop blaming Brexit and start staffing “, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Liz Truss, accuses a “ lack of resources at the border “.
It is partly true. The prefect of the Hauts-de-France region recognizes this. Of the 200 French police officers scheduled, 90 arrived 1 hour late on Friday morning. He still asks: Who can believe that because we are a little behind, the whole system is derailed? »
Trucks held up in England
French Transport Minister Clément Beaune agrees. According to him, this situation is a consequence of Brexit. Since the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, it is no longer enough to show your identity card to cross the border. Every traveler must have their passport stamped. And it takes longer.
The Port of Dover had asked for £33m (€39m) to upgrade the port and deal with Brexit pressures. But he only received £33,000 (39,000 euros) in December 2020, the equivalent of 0.1% of what he asked for.
In order to avoid new traffic jams for holidaymakers, several thousand trucks are still held up on the motorway in England.
The French authorities are mobilized to control our borders and facilitate the traffic as much as possible. I discussed this subject constructively with my counterpart @grantshapps ????
But France is not responsible for the #Brexit. pic.twitter.com/6FIBZ7RnKG— Clement Beaune (@CBaune) July 23, 2022