Al Pinkerton
Main Page: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)Department Debates - View all Al Pinkerton's debates with the Home Office
European Entry and Exit System
Al Pinkerton Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Alex Norris
The hon. Gentleman has heard what we are doing—engaging with our partners across member states and the Commission to make sure they prioritise flow over compliance, which is the right thing to do. He raises important points about Brexit, which come up frequently in our discussions. As he may well have heard me say, I deal with challenges on a daily basis that result from the decision the British people took, such as access to data and information that we are doubtlessly missing, which we are seeking to add back as part of the UK-EU summit. I am just not sure that this situation fits into that category, because we would be having this conversation in some form either way.
Dr Al Pinkerton (Surrey Heath) (LD)
It is clear that the delay to the UK-EU reset summit—it was initially scheduled for July, but has now been delayed till October—has not cancelled the problems which that summit was, at least in part, designed to address. Might the Minister suggest an interim emergency summit to deal explicitly with this issue, bringing together the French and the European Commission to try to resolve it before we hit peak summer season? If he is willing to organise that summit, could he also raise the case of UK hauliers, who are reporting inconsistent scanning of their exit from the Schengen area and real fears that their 90 in 180-day entitlement will artificially run down as a result? That is going to have a profound effect on our economy.
Alex Norris
The hon. Gentleman perhaps ascribes to me greater power than I have with regard to convening international summits. This issue is being considered outside of that process, anyway—these conversations are happening every day. I also know that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary will meet her European counterparts next week and that the EES is on the agenda for that meeting. That work is going on.
I am concerned to hear about the inconsistent scanning, which I know has a profound impact on businesses and workers. If there are examples, I would be very keen to look at them, to make sure people are not being affected in ways they should not be.