Brussels, 29/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission presented the type of biometric passport that European Union Member States will all have to issue from 28 August 2006. The document should have a contactless chip on which will be encoded the holder's identity photograph, and from March 2007 two finger prints will also be recorded on the passport. Commissioner Franco Frattini told press that it will help “combat falsification and will make identity control at borders easier. All Member States will be required to adopt this passport by 28 August”. He added that the Commission's main concern was that States would not be able to meet this deadline. Germany, Sweden, Norway and France, on a lesser scale, have started issuing this type of passport. Each Member State will be able to set its own price for the new passport. Germany has elected to increase the price from the present €26 top €59 for the biometric passports. Because of technical difficulties, the deadline for the inclusion of finger prints is the end of 2009. Germany has already indicated that it intended to introduce finger prints in the course of 2007. To calm fears, Mr Frattini said that the introduction of biometrics into passports was a “safe mechanism” because, he said, the Commission had set itself the aim of guaranteeing the confidentiality of the personal data of the passport holder. “This is not an instrument to be used for police purposes. It is a means of identification,” he declared. He admitted, however, that there was currently going on within the Council a debate on whether these data could be included in the future data register or made use of when criminal suspects were being sought. He emphasised that discussions had also taken place between States to determine who would have responsibility over abuses, in the event of access to data by unauthorised persons. At the moment, retention of these data is not allowed under any circumstances, Mr Frattini pointed out. Non-biometric passports will continue to be valid and will be able to be used after 28 August. The US Congress let it be known that after October 2006, without a biometric passport, a visa will be needed to enter the United States. “This is a very strict interpretation by the Congress,” said Mr Frattini, expressing confidence that the United States would extend the deadline.
Passport control will be carried out at the border by the passport officer in two stages: the encoded facial image on the chip will be decoded and compared with the photo on the passport, then the finger prints will be decoded, revealing the passenger's personal data.
The presentation of the biometric passport coincided with the adoption by the Commission, on 28 June, of the second part of the technical specifications needed for the introduction of biometric identifiers (finger prints) on passports and other travel documents issued by Member States in line with a 2004 Council regulation. This decision by the Commission related to additional storage of two finger prints on the passport chip. The Commission felt these data were more sensitive and decided to protect them by “Extended Access Control”, a system which works with a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). As this system is very new, it took the committee more time to establish the technical specifications. Tests run by some Member States have shown that the system is working. However, the Commission notes, access to these data would imply that all border posts are equipped with the necessary reading devices. Member States have not yet installed the necessary soft and hardware as the end date is 2009. Currently, only Member States will have access to the finger print data. The Commission will decide at a later date if third countries should be allowed. This Commission decision launches the process of implementing finger print specifications. Member States have 36 months from 28 June 2006 to store them in their newly issued passports, that is until 28 June 2009 at the latest.