If you are the proud owner of a campervan, you will no doubt have enjoyed a number of short breaks or longer holidays in various parts of the UK. Travelling around in your own country does not normally necessitate the carrying of many documents. If, however, you decide to travel further afield to say France, Italy or Spain or a number of other European Countries then you will need to bring additional documentation such as UK passports.
Getting through border control at the likes of Dover, Portsmouth or Plymouth where you may board a ferry in your campervan can take a little longer. In the summer months when it tends to be particularly busy you are likely to face increased wait times. Therefore, campervan owners may wish to consider allowing a bit extra time to get through the checks at border control.
Well, you may find it of interest to read that, with effect from the 12th October 2025, further border checks are to be carried out. It is called the Entry/Exit System (EES). This may mean that your wait time to get onto a ferry could be a little longer than currently. If this is the case, let us hope that it does not put some campervan owners off making that longer trip to holiday in the likes of Germany or Belgium.
As you can see from the under mentioned list there are a lot of countries involved in the additional checks: –
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Hopefully, things will run smoothly when the above new rules are introduced on the 12th October 2025 and we do not see huge increases in wait times at exit points in the UK. Perhaps by introducing the new rules in the autumn when their tends to be fewer campervans travelling to EU countries it proves to be a sensible course of action.
Whilst writing, do check your campervan insurance policy to make sure that you are covered for travelling to one or more of the above countries and familiarise yourself with exactly what you are covered for.
