Fingerprints soon a common feature on EU passports
The EU and US are edging closer on a deal to introduce fingerprints and other security features in EU travel documents, following talks between Washington and Berlin yesterday.
Tom Ridge, the US homeland security secretary, said after meeting Otto Schily, the German interior minister, that the two countries had agreed on the need to upgrade travel documents by including biometric features, such as fingerprints or facial features, the FT said.
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The EU wants to introduce biometric information - digital photos and fingerprints - on visas and residence permits for third-country nationals first, before extending it to EU citizens’ passports at a later stage.
However pressure is mounting as the US has said it will start demanding visas from 27 countries - mostly European states - from 26 October 2004 if they do not have biometric data on their passports.
Mr Schily said that "the EU and Germany could play a leadership role" on this issue.
Tom Ridge, the US homeland security secretary, also said there was a common understanding on "a couple of basic principles that I think will facilitate the discussion and get us to agreement sooner rather than later".
But he also said, "we are trying to find a common international standard. If a common standard between the US and the EU could be developed, that would lead
to a stronger international agreement".
Otto Schily added that "If different countries are working with different standards, it will lead to confusion and make worldwide travel much harder".
The plans to introduce biometric information on travel documents or residence permits have raised data protection concerns.