WRITTEN QUESTION E-3152/01 by Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Council. Biometric passport.
Date: 2001-11-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Netherlands, biometrics, new technology, passport, public safety, terrorism

C 134 E/206

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

6.6.2002

(2002/C 134 E/215)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3152/01

by Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Council

(15 November 2001)

Subject: Biometric passport

Netherlands recently introduced a new passport, offering the possibility in two to three years of recording
of biometric data, for example using fingerprinting or iris scanning. This will mean proof of identity which
is far more reliable than current evidence. The minister responsible, Mr Van Boxtel, has indicated that he is
very willing to share this advanced Netherlands technology with other EU Member States.

Does the Council take the view that standardisation or harmonisation in line with the highest
freedoms being

identity in Europe can increase security, without citizens’

1.
standard for evidence of
sacrificed as a result?

Is the Council willing to place this matter on the agenda for the JHA Council or the next European

2.
Council summit?

In the light of recent endeavours to introduce new measures to reduce the terrorist threat in Europe,

3.
is the Council willing to treat discussion of this matter as a priority?

Reply

(14 February 2002)

The Union has taken particular interest in innovative security features for identity documents such as
passports, identity cards, visas, residence permits, etc. since the Visa 2000 Symposium in Nuremberg in
June 1999, where new technologies were discussed and a number of biometric techniques presented. The
events of 11 September 2001 gave a stark reminder of the need to step up document security. At its
meeting on 20 September 2001 the Council recognised the importance of document security as a means
of fighting terrorism and placed emphasis on greater use of biometrics. Following that Council meeting,
the Commission submitted a new proposal for a Regulation amending the 1995 Regulation on the
uniform format for visas to include a digital photograph on the visa. The Council has reached broad
agreement on that proposal, subject to the Opinion of the European Parliament. A similar solution will
also be adopted under the Commission proposal laying down the uniform format for residence permits for
third-country nationals.

the Council would point

the
As regards passports,
Governments of
the Member States, meeting within the Council, on the security characteristics of
passports and other travel documents (1). The Resolution calls on Member States to introduce at the earliest
opportunity, and at the latest on 1 January 2005 (for passports) or 1 January 2006 (for identity cards and
short-term passports with more than six months’ validity), the minimum security standards for the
production and issue of new travel documents set out in the Annex to the Resolution. It also leaves open
the possibility of setting even more stringent security requirements.

the Representatives of

to the Resolution of

(1) OJ C 310, 28.10.2000, p. 1.

(2002/C 134 E/216)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3157/01

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 November 2001)

Subject: Transparency in the application of inspection procedures vis à vis the preservation of North Sea

cod and haddock stocks

With regard to Written Answer E-1896/01 (1), could the Commission indicate whether it believes in the
need for transparency and public scrutiny of the workings of the Common Fisheries Policy and, if so,