Here’s the bit of Brexit that’s really going to hurt...

The EU’s Entry-Exit System (EES) is just another self-inflicted barrier that will make it harder than ever for Gen Z Brits to see the world, writes Femi Oluwole

As if they haven’t caused enough damage to the UK already, Brexiteers have found a new and exciting way to hold us all back – especially the young people among us.

And this time it’s quite literal – from 10 November (unless it’s delayed as it has been before), Brits who fly to EU countries will be held back in queues to be fingerprinted and photographed, and may even be held back on planes. EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren has already warned passengers that they could be left stuck on planes due to the enhanced checks – so if you end up being massively inconvenienced on your next holiday to Malaga, you know what to blame.

This isn’t some post-Brexit punishment against British people (although it may feel like one). This is simply the other side of the “control our borders” coin – which is to say, the EU is controlling theirs, and this is what that looks like.

As a result, a generation of Brits that is more digitally connected to the outside world than any that came before will be even less likely to see it – that is, of course, unless Keir Starmer’s Labour Party changes its tune.

The EU’s Entry-Exit System (EES) has been designed to make sure there’s a record of everybody going in and out of the EU. It’s not unusual – anyone who’s been to America will remember waiting in the queue to have their fingerprints scanned and their picture taken. The US has been fingerprinting foreign passengers since 2004 and it’s still a bit of a nightmare. It has taken me as long as two hours to get through those queues in the past. And while the EU is seeking to develop software to allow pre-registration, it’s not here yet. This is our new reality, for the time being.

This goes so far beyond losing a couple of hours out of your holiday. Every time we learn about a new way that Brexit makes it harder to enter continental Europe, it puts Brits off Europe – and puts Europe off Brits. We’ve already seen the 25,000 hospitality jobs in Europe that used to be ours vanish because the Brexit red tape made it too much hassle to hire us.

We’ve also seen a massive drop in the number of British pupils choosing to learn languages at A-level, because why learn a language of a place you’re probably never going to be able to live? Schools have also been put off doing foreign exchanges, with 45 per cent of state schools blaming Brexit for simply making the process too complicated. For example, it has made it harder to recruit language teachers from the continent.

Of course, as with every element of Brexit, it’s not as bad if you’re rich – private schools were less likely to say that Brexit has put their pupils off learning languages. Why? Well, when have borders ever stopped the wealthy?

After Brexit, the UK required people coming here to have a minimum salary of £38,700. The UK average salary is £34,963. For Brits age 22-29, it’s £30,316. For 18-21, it’s £22,932.

Since Brexit, to work in Europe for more than three months, you need to apply for the EU’s Blue Card. For Germany, the minimum salary requirement for an EU Blue Card is €45,300. That’s roughly £38,000.

What that means is that Brexit is basically a locked door for young working-class Brits who want to experience life across Europe. And now, thanks to the “control our borders” agenda, we’ll spend waiting hours for that door to open… only to be kicked back out 90 days later.

All this palaver also holds back the British CV. When I worked in Belgium, so many of the job requirements included experience working in international environments. So by putting Brits off learning languages, and making it hard for us to leave this island, Brits are now at a competitive disadvantage against other Europeans.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. If Keir Starmer was to accept the EU’s proposal for a Youth Mobility Scheme, allowing Brits to work across Europe for fixed periods of time, then we could start opening some doors for Gen Z and millennials.

It is absurd that a generation that chats with people in other countries more than we chat with our next-door neighbours is being landlocked like this. It’s Labour’s job to fix that.