A SCHEME allowing French day-trippers to visit the Island using ID cards as an alternative to passports will be reviewed next month, with Jersey’s government likely to seek an extension beyond September.
Around 50% of passengers are expected to arrive from France using national ID cards by the end of the summer, according to ferry firms Condor and Manche Iles Express.
The scheme – introduced after a collapse in the French day-trip market following Brexit changes which meant European visitors had to have a passport to travel, even though many do not possess one to Jersey – is currently operating on a trial basis agreed with the UK authorities which includes the requirement for it to be formally reviewed.
Home Affairs Minister Helen Miles said: ‘It was clearly something that was wanted and has had an impact on the market.’
Explaining the logistics of the initiative, Deputy Miles told the latest Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel hearing that passengers were being checked in in France by the ferry companies and only those with passports, or French ID cards for day-trippers, were allowed to board.
They are again checked on arrival in Jersey by a customs officer and the ferry companies then had an obligation to notify the authorities in Jersey if a passenger did not check in for the return journey later that day. The minister said that this had happened only once and, while it was being investigated, the passenger concerned had arrived late at the harbour for the sailing.
‘We haven’t lost anybody. Everybody who has come in has gone out, so that shows that the system has worked very well so far,’ she said.
The minister also said that she had received a request to extend the scheme which, it had been agreed with the UK, would be evaluated as part of the time-limited trial.
‘If it has been so successful, there’s probably no reason not to continue into the winter months, particularly with Condor because they are a year-round service, but it would be continuing on exactly the same terms, so only French ID cards and only for the day at this point,’ she said.
Commenting following the Scrutiny hearing, Deputy Miles said the government was committed to ‘improving relations with our nearest neighbours in France’.
‘I am delighted that our pilot scheme allowing French nationals to travel to the Island with their ID cards has so far operated with great success,’ she added.
