You no longer need a passport to travel to the island of Jersey
The maritime links between Normandy and the island of Jersey, which almost disappeared, have been saved! This required the British authorities to suspend the obligation to present a passport to reach the Channel Island, some sixty kilometers from Cherbourg (Manche). Since Brexitan identity card was no longer enough, but half of the passengers wanting to go to Jersey ignored it and… stayed at the quay!
Direct consequence: the use of the lines is now in free fall with a loss of use estimated at… 50%! An untenable situation for the president of the Manche departmental council, Jean Morin, the main funder of these shipping lines, who had threatened, in our columns, to put an end to these liaisons if the administrative requirements of the British did not change.
A provisional test
He had even set a clear ultimatum. “If in May, the passport is still compulsory for passengers wishing to go to Jersey just for a day or a weekend, we will definitively stop these lines which, in such conditions, are too expensive for the community. He was obviously heard. The Jersey Interior Minister, Helen Miles, announced on Tuesday the suspension of this passport requirement to enter Jersey.
From April, the presentation of a simple identity card will therefore suffice again for a short stay, as was the case before Brexit. This “derogation” from the new English law is not definitive. “This is a provisional test, from which we will draw lessons in September,” the minister said.
“Anyway, this administrative simplification makes us hope for a relaunch of crossings to Jersey for next season. Our wish is first to return to financial balance,” explained Frenchman Jean Morin, before adding that he hoped for a similar measure as soon as possible from the authorities of Guernsey, the neighboring island.
