EU biometric visa system must be secure and reliable

3.26.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 10th Jul 2008

The European Parliament has today adopted a report concerning its requirements for the collection of biometric data from applicants for Schengen visas - digital photos and fingerprints - to make the EU Visa Information System operational.

MEPs have so far been unable to reach an accord with the Council of Ministers representing EU governments so there has been no 'first reading agreement'. Differences include the governments' desire to fingerprint children from the age of 6, where MEPs have worries on principle but also concerning reliability and inconvenience to families, and issues around data security such as the outsourcing of the collection of biometrics to private companies outside diplomatic premises

Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, the European Parliament's rapporteur and Liberal Democrat European Justice and Home Affairs spokeswoman, said:

"I am disappointed that we have been unable to reach agreement, but the Council and Commission have not sufficiently thought through how their proposals would work. No decision to require fingerprints from 6 year olds should be made without taking into account doubts over reliability due to rapid change in young childrens' prints, and the significant costs and inconvenience for their parents if the solution is to impose collection every 2 years instead of 5.

"That is why MEPs are making the reasonable proposal of starting with 12 years old for fingerprinting and re-examining age limits after a 3-year study. I want the Visa Information System to succeed, and we cannot afford to make it into one vast experiment with 70 million entries at any one time.

"This law deals with sensitive biometric personal data, thus MEPs are extremely vigilant about protection against data misuse and security against loss. Member States have so far rejected the idea of private contracted firms operating in premises under diplomatic protection, which would ensure material is protected from seizure. If they were willing to explore forms of cooperation, such as co-location of consulates or 'Common Application Centres', they might be able to save costs, increase convenience for applicants and deliver data security all at once.

Note to editors

The UK will not be bound by this EU legislation as it has an 'opt-out' from EU borders and visa policies, but it is developing its own biometric visa system and there is likely to be a 'pipeline' agreed to exchange data, so the data protection and security measures are relevant. In addition, the UK government has a habit of suggesting that it must follow EU standards, even when there is absolutely no legal requirement to do so. It certainly did that on biometric passports