The borders between us

As I begin more travelling to the Continent this week, I realise with relief that the European Union is not going to implement its fingerprint and facial scan check system for non-EU citizens at all EU borders this autumn. This was due to start on 10 November, but has been pushed back yet again after Germany, France and the Netherlands said their systems were not ready, the BBC reports. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said there was not a new timetable for its implementation, but it would be phased in.

So, all my travel to France, Italy and Germany will be done and dusted by the time they start demanding fingerprints and so forth. I also hope that by the time things start gearing up for 2025, these issues may be mitigated by the new UK government. And, with any luck and a following wind, they may be easing for the dairy sector as well on that front.

As reported by Keith Nuthall in the next issue of Dairy Industries International, “Speaking on a visit to Northern Ireland in July, the new minister for the constitution and European relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said formal sanitary and phytosanitary agreement (SPS)  negotiations could begin in early 2025, with initial conversations already underway. However given a new European Commission will not be in place until 1 November at the earliest, hard edged, formal negotiations could only start early next year, Thomas-Symonds said. His party’s manifesto, released ahead of Labour’s 4 July election victory said, ‘We will seek to negotiate a veterinary agreement to prevent unnecessary border checks and help tackle the cost of food.’ ”

This would be a good thing. I have long argued that hobbling trade with the giant that is the 500 million population of the EU is a bit of an own goal for the UK, but we live in these times so it’s now about making the most of the situation we put ourselves back in 2016. The EU and UK have a lot more in common than the perceived differences, in the end.

• Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
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