I got the lucky job in the ITV Channel office at the weekend - a quick, one-day trip to France in order to try out the new Entry-Exit System (EES) on the day it was being rolled out across Europe (Sunday 12 October).

The rule change means people from third-party countries, like the UK since Brexit, have their fingerprints and photo taken before entering 29 European countries, mainly in the EU.

British holidaymakers had been warned to allow extra time for longer queues at ports, although the new system is being phased in over the next six months.

The only EES checks taking place on British soil are those at St Pancras, Dover and Folkestone, where there is EU border control.

Therefore, everything at Jersey's Elizabeth Ferry Terminal was the same as usual.

Once onboard, I spoke to a number of passengers about their feelings on the changes.

The majority of people were not too concerned. One told me that they believe it will make travel safer and is just a sign of an increasingly digital world.

Someone else said they were confused about the timeline of the rollout and had anticipated delays, but accepted that it was a major change for travel to Europe that would take time.

However, another man told me that they would miss their passport being stamped, seeing those pages as a lovely memento of their travels around the globe.

One group of travellers told me they had privacy concerns about so much of their personal data being held in digital systems and were hoping the machines were not up and running yet.

When arriving in Saint Malo, their wishes were granted: the machines were not turned on, although they were in place, plugged into the wall and ready to be unpacked.

It meant that passing through immigration into France was pretty much unchanged - I did not have my fingerprints or photo taken.

Although the EES machines were not in use, on the way back to Jersey, around five staff were huddled around the border control desk watching an immigration officer use the new internal system and steadily learning how to log people.

Clearly, the process of moving across is very much underway, even if it is not yet fully operational at this terminal.

It did mean that the queue to get back through French immigration and onto the boat to Jersey took a little longer than usual - then again, there have often been larger queues at terminals for British travellers since they had to join the non-EU line.

The popular day trips to Saint Malo from the Channel Islands will definitely be impacted if there are significant delays once the machines come into use.

With great weather and no major queues, I had around five hours in France, so any long delays waiting to clear passport control would likely make me think twice about whether it is worth going for shorter day trips.

We do not know when the new system will be up and running in Saint Malo but they have time, as the official deadline for the whole Schengen area to be using EES is Thursday 9 April 2026.

Blog: Travelling to France on the first day of new EU border rules