Luxembourg bids to save the Council’s biometric visa plan

By David Cronin

Date: 13/01/05

THE Luxembourg presidency is trying to salvage an EU plan to create the world's largest fingerprints database after a key suggestion for the scheme was deemed unworkable.

The Council of Ministers' visa working group this week (12-13 January) considered how to make it mandatory for those travelling to the Union from 132 countries to have biometric indicators incorporated into their visas.

Since the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, EU governments have agreed that biometric indicators should be attached to visas and residence permits for non-EU nationals living in the Union. They would be used to identify terrorist suspects.

The initial, however. recommendation on this scheme was called into question by an evaluation completed in November.

Carried out by a committee appointed by EU governments, it found that it was not feasible to have chips containing fingerprints and digitized photographs inserted into visas in the manner envisaged by the European Commission.

The main problem identified was that a 'collision' could occur between chips demanded by EU bodies and those which other countries require in passports or visas held by their nationals. Such interference between chips and reading devices could cause them to malfunction, it stated.

Luxembourg outlined options for avoiding the 'collision' risk to the visa working group shortly before Christmas.

The Grand Duchy has said that most of the 25 member states "seem to be in favour" of only storing fingerprints of travellers in the EU's Visa Information System (VIS), rather than on a 'sticker' affixed to a visa.

Should member states endorse that view, the Commission would then be asked to alter its biometric data proposal.

To be operational in 2007, the VIS is expected to house biometric indicators for 70 million travellers within a decade, making it the largest store of fingerprints in the world. It is designed to allow visa data to be exchanged between member state authorities.

Sources say that if the Luxembourg blueprint becomes a reality, the EU could have a similar arrangement to America's VISIT programme.

Under VISIT, all visitors to America have been fingerprinted and face-scanned upon arrival in the country since September.

Civil liberties advocates feel that the Luxembourg initiative does not address concerns with the biometric data proposal.

They fear that the risk of innocent people being wrongly accused of terrorist involvement will grow as databases become larger.

"We have never seen a system of this size or breadth created before," said Gus Hosein of Privacy International.

He said: "It is a stupid idea for politicians to imagine that technology is going to solve all problems."

Tony Bunyan of Statewatch noted that Denmark and Poland had both raised concerns about interference between chips attached to visas in 2003.

"This problem was known in autumn 2003, yet in their great wisdom EU governments still proceeded," said Bunyan.

"This indicates blinkered thinking or bad management at a high level," he added.

Article reports that the Luxembourg presidency of the Council is trying to salvage an EU plan to create the world's largest fingerprints database after a key suggestion for the scheme was deemed unworkable in November 2004. A committee appointed by EU governments found that it was not feasible to have chips containing fingerprints and digitised photographs inserted into visas in the manner envisaged by the European Commission, mainly due to the danger of 'collision' with electronic devices other countries require in passports or visas held by their nationals.

Meeting on 12-13 January 2005 the Council of Ministers' visa working group looked into alternative ways of making it mandatory for those travelling to the Union from 132 countries to have biometric indicators incorporated into their visas.