EU Institutions reach agreement on EU visa information system

9.42.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 15th May 2007

The Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament voted today (14th May), after almost 18 months of often difficult negotiations, on two legal measures, a regulation and a decision, concerning the Visa Information System. Baroness Sarah LUDFORD MEP (UK, Lib Dem) is the rapporteur.

The main purpose of the VIS, the third major EU database after the Schengen Information System and Eurodac (asylum seekers), is to improve the management and security of EU visa-issuing procedures. But it will also contribute to internal security and the fight against terrorism and other serious crime.

The VIS database will store the personal and biometric data (digitised photos and fingerprints) of approximately 20 million Schengen visa applicants annually. With a five year retention period, this will mean around 70 million sets of fingerprints being stored on the system at any one time, the largest biometric database in the world so far. Visa, immigration, asylum and border control authorities, but also Member States' law enforcement authorities and Europol under specified conditions, will have access to this Community database.

Commenting today, Sarah Ludford said:

"The vote today is welcome as the culmination of an intense and detailed scrutiny of this highly important European border and internal security project. A sound and balanced first reading agreement has been reached with the German Presidency. The improvements due to MEP input are a vindication of the new co-decision powers of the European Parliament in this field."

"The use of biometrics and the access to the database by internal security as well as border and immigration authorities could have a huge impact on the fundamental rights of million of individuals. I have thus fought hard to ensure that fundamental data protection principles of necessity and proportionality are respected and that access by internal security authorities is not routine but governed by strong safeguards."

The Presidency has also made a commitment, through two political declarations, to reach a satisfactory agreement on the long-awaited Framework Decision on data protection and the Return Directive on standards for sending back illegal immigrants.

See link to European Parliament press release - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/019-6651-134-05-20-902-20070514IPR06646-14-05-2007-2007-false/default_en.htm