Travellers to Europe to have fingerprint scans

IRISH citizens will have their fingerprints scanned when travelling to mainland Europe as part of a security crackdown.

At present, Ireland and Britain do not share the same open border policy with the other EU countries. Under the current arrangement, Irish and British citizens have to show their passports at the border.

The EU has agreed a new, more secure system for issuing visas to visitors that will include biometric fingerprints and photographs.

The new system is expected to begin operating in 2007 when visa holders’ fingerprints will be checked at the border.

From this date, all EU passports will have biometric fingerprints and photographs embedded to guard against forgeries.

An EU official said yesterday it was likely that border guards will use the biometrics to check the identity of Irish and British passport holders coming into mainland Europe.

Dr Ian De Ceuster of the Commission’s justice section said: “The biometric elements will help them to confirm the identity of the holder.”

By then Ireland and Britain will be the only two countries of the EU 25, plus Iceland and Norway whose citizens are required to show identification at the EU’s external borders.

Britain has refused to join and to ensure the free flow of people across the border into Northern Ireland and Britain, Ireland has also remained outside the so called Schengen area. Both countries are also staying outside the proposed new EU Visa Information System that will operate a common visa policy.

Under the proposal announced by the European Commission yesterday, citizens from the 132 countries that require a visa to enter the EU will be processed in a central system. This will allow officials to check on an applicant’s visa record in other countries.

On entry to any EU country, fingerprints will be scanned to make sure they match those on the visa.

Frank Paul of the commission explained: “This is a very quick operation that will take only seconds. It is very reliable compared to biometric photographs that are notoriously unreliable.”

At present there are 12 million requests for visas to enter the 13 EU countries. This is expected to grow to 20 million by 2007.

The Visa Information System (VIS) is expected to cost €30 million to develop and an average of €2 to €3 for each visa issued once it is fully operational.