EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/748

(2004/C 84 E/0843)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4066/03

by Juan Naranjo Escobar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 January 2004)

Subject: Biometric passports

Among the measures included by the Commission for 2004 in its work programme (1) is a proposal for a regulation to define the characteristics of the information system for visas.

Meanwhile, as of 5 January 2004 all citizens of certain countries wishing to enter the US have to pass through a scanner identifying a set of biometric characteristics which are used to exercise checks on their stay there. The US will start issuing biometrie passports from next year.

Biometrie technology offers a number of different options: it can be applied to the face, the hands, and even the eyes. The technologies concerned are, however, still very expensive, and cannot at present be considered completely reliable.

What is the Commission's time-frame for the EU-wide introduction of passports using biometrie technology? Does it consider their introduction to be viable in the medium term?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(18 February 2004)

At European level, in order to enhance the level of security in the area of freedom, security and justice, the Thessaloniki European Council (19/20 June 2003) called for ‘a coherent approach in the EU on biometric identifiers or biometric data which would result in harmonised solutions for documents for third country nationals, EU citizens’ passports and information systems (VIS and SIS II)', and invited the Commission ‘to prepare the appropriate proposals, starting with the visa’.

As a first step, the Commission presented in September 2003 two proposals (2) on the integration of two biometrie identifiers, the facial image and two fingerprints, into the uniform format for visa and the residence permit for third country nationals.

In a second step, the Commission will soon present a proposal on the harmonisation of the security features of the European Passport including biometrics. This proposal will only relate to provisions which improve the security of the passport by harmonising, and rendering legally binding, common security features, which are currently set out in a non-binding Resolution of the Representatives of Member States meeting within the Council. Furthermore, biometrics shall be integrated. The exercise to be undertaken should not go beyond what is required for security reasons and the control of citizens crossing the external borders.

The proposals on visa and residence permits for third country nationals (2) set out the legislative framework for the integration of biometrie identifiers in such documents. The development of practical implementation measures as regards the technical specifications for the chosen biometrie identifiers and their rendering secure is the task of the Committee created by Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995 on a uniform format for visas (3). The implementation delay, which will be two years for the facial image and three years for the fingerprints, can only start when those technical specifications have been adopted by the Commission.

In relation to the passport, a similar system will be proposed in the above-mentioned proposal for a Regulation.

(1) COM(2003) 645 final.

(2) COM(2003) 558 final.

(3) OJ L 164, 14.7.1995.