Visitors to Europe face fingerprinting

Visitors to Europe face fingerprinting

By Sarah Laitner in Brussels

Published: February 14 2008 02:27 | Last updated: February 14 2008 02:27

Visitors to many European countries face being ­electronically fingerprinted under contentious plans to bolster the bloc’s frontier security and crackdown on illegal immigration.

The measures, to apply to non-Europeans, are part of a wide-ranging drive by Brussels to use personal data on travellers to boost border controls and track arrival and departure.

The plans, outlined on Wednesday by Franco Frattini, EU justice commissioner, follow the introduction by the US of fingerprinting of visitors after the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks.

Mr Frattini believes that the European schemes will aid the fight against terrorism, organised crime and illegal immigration. At present, travellers can move across national frontiers in most of the EU without checks.

In some cases, departures from the EU go unrecorded, making it difficult to ascertain whether people have overstayed their visas.

Mr Frattini will hope that a suggested fast-track, automated check-in, available for frequent, registered travellers, will assuage concerns about disruption.

However, in a further effort to monitor entry, US citizens, Canadians, Australians and other foreigners who do not need a visa for a short-term stay could be required to receive electronic authorisation before arrival

Mr Frattini last year questioned US plans for pre-­authorisation of some visitors, voicing concern that it could hinder last-minute business travel. The EU has yet to outline details of how this particular aspect of its measures would work.

Wednesday’s plans would apply to the 24-country Schengen zone, in which internal passport controls have been scrapped.

Britain and Ireland are among a handful of EU nations that are outside the zone but could adopt the schemes.

The measures are not yet a formal legislative proposal. Mr Frattini hopes that, if agreed, they would be in place by 2015.

●The European Commission on Wednesday described as “unacceptable” US moves to negotiate bilateral agreements with some EU states expanding a June 2007 accord on exchanging air passengers’ personal data, adds AFP from Brussels.

Jonathan Faull, director-general of the commission’s security and justice department, said one particular proposed deal he had seen was “way beyond anything that can be done”.