The reintroduction of passport requirements – following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU – had caused the number of visitors from France to Jersey drop significantly, as only about 50% of the country’s population has a passport.

After around two years of negotiations, Home Affairs Minister Deputy Helen Miles announced a pilot scheme in March which would allowed French nationals visiting for a day trip – on commercial passenger ferries – to enter the island using their national ID cards for a day-return trip until September.

Jersey welcomed its first passengers under the new scheme on Saturday. 

Now Guernsey, which was facing the same problem, has decided to follow suit and announced that it had opened its own pilot scheme on Wednesday.

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Pictured: Deputy Helen Miles welcoming the French delegation to St. Helier on Saturday. (David Ferguson)

“We are pleased to have been able to put this pilot scheme in place, following discussions at political and officer level with colleagues from the UK Home Office, which followed early discussions with Jersey,” the island’s Home Affairs President, Deputy Rob Prow, said.

“Following Brexit, which introduced the requirement for EU nationals to use passports rather than identity cards, we have seen an impact on travel numbers by sea from France to the Channel Islands because of French nationals’ preference for using identity cards. This pilot scheme for day-trippers is a positive development that respects our unique relationship with France while also being respectful of our position within the Common Travel Area.”

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French ID card scheme: How did Jersey get it done?

Pictured: The first French daytrippers able to travel using only ID cards arriving at Elizabeth Terminal.