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EU: Biometric EU ID cards by the back door

01 December 2006

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The Justice and Home Affairs Council on 4-5 December is to adopt - without debate - a Resolution on "security standards" for national identity cards across the EU: Draft Resolution: EU doc no: 15356/06 The EU does not have the legal power to impose "security standards" and biometrics on national ID cards. However, this "non-binding" Resolution opens the way (enables) for biometrics to be taken (with the same standards as already agreed for EU passports, that is, fingerprints) and be added to ID cards (together with other "optional" biometrics) where the ID cards are used for "travel purposes", which they are throughout the Schengen area. As this is a so-called "non-binding" ("soft law") measure national and European parliaments (let alone civil society) have no say.

See also: previous report: EU: Biometrics and national ID cards back on the table: despite admitting that "there is no legal basis in the Treaty governing these issues" the EU is still pushing for harmonisation on this highly contentious issue.

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