(2004/C 70 E/225)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3067/03

by Kathalijne Buitenweg (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(14 October 2003)

Subject:   Biometric data in visas and passports

The European Commission is currently, through various proposals, working on the follow-up to one of the conclusions of the Thessaloniki European Council of June 2003 which states that ‘a coherent approach is needed 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)'. At the same time the European Commission is negotiating with the United States to ensure that the collection by the American authorities of airline passenger data is consistent with European standards, i.e. that data are collected for a clearly defined purpose, stored for a limited period and that there is a possibility of effective redress.

What steps does the Commission plan to take to ensure that it does not become easier for third-country customs authorities to store on a long-term basis and use as they see fit data, including biometric data, contained in passports and visas, given that such data is stored on a chip?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(11 November 2003)

As requested by the Thessaloniki European Council (19 and 20 June 2003), the Commission has prepared, as a first step, two legislative proposals (1) for Regulations amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95 of 29 May 1995, laying down a uniform format for visas (2), and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 of 13 June 2002 laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals (3). As a second step the Commission will present, in December 2003, a proposal on biometrics in passports.

The proposals on visa and residence permits intend to require Member States to integrate two biometric identifiers, the facial image and two fingerprints, which shall be kept on a storage medium in the visa and in the residence permit for third country nationals in a harmonised way, thus ensuring interoperability.

The Commission considers that prevention of the use of bogus or false identities could best be achieved by enabling more reliable checking of whether the person who presented a document was identical to the person to whom the document had been issued. Existing security standards are improved even further by the integration of two biometric identifiers.

When choosing the most appropriate biometric identifiers, the results of the work of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), which has taken the lead for the development of international standards in this respect, has been taken into account. Furthermore, ICAO recommends a contactless microchip as the most appropriate storage medium.

The Commission is devoting particular attention to the protection of personal data. The Commission recalls that Directive 95/46/EC (4) on data protection applies to the processing of personal data -including biometric data. In accordance with Article 30 of this Directive, the Commission intends to submit all above mentioned proposals for consultation to the Working Party composed of national data protection authorities, set up by Article 29 of the said Directive.

The two existing proposals include a specific obligation to ensure the security of data. There are various technical approaches to secure the stored information but a definite technical solution will have to be determined.

The discussions that the Commission is having with the United States about the protection of airline passenger data are not related to these proposals.

(1)  COM(2003) 558 final.

(2)  OJ L 164, 14.7.1995.

(3)  OJ L 157, 15.6.2002.

(4)  Directive 95/46/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, OJ L 281, 23.11.1995.