EU Moves Closer to Mandatory Biometric ID Cards
The European Council and Parliament have reached provisional agreements on new rules for the introduction of mandatory biometric national identity cards
Ami Rojkes Dombe
| 07/03/2019
Image: Bigstock
The biometric revolution in Europe is moving ahead with the introduction of mandatory biometric national identity cards, according to a report by consilium.europa.eu.
“Under the proposed new rules, identity cards will have to be produced in a uniform, credit card format (ID-1), include a machine-readable zone, and follow the minimum security standards set out by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). They will also need to include a photo and two fingerprints of the cardholder, stored in a digital format, on a contactless chip. ID cards will indicate the country code of the member state issuing them, inside an EU flag,” the European Council said in a release.
“Identity cards will have a minimum period of validity of 5 years and a maximum period of validity of 10 years. Member states may issue ID cards with a longer validity for persons aged 70 and above. If issued, ID cards for minors may have a period of validity of less than 5 years.”
“The EU is upgrading the Visa Information System (VIS) – which is currently used to hold information on all applicants for short-stay Schengen visas – to now include information on long-stay visas and residence documents; to enforce mandatory biometrics in long-stay visas (currently a national competence); and to include the fingerprints of children from the age of six and up. All visa applicants will also be profiled,” Planet Biometrics adds.
[First publication: Statewatch]
The European Council and Parliament have reached provisional agreements on new rules for the introduction of mandatory biometric national identity cards
Image: Bigstock
The biometric revolution in Europe is moving ahead with the introduction of mandatory biometric national identity cards, according to a report by consilium.europa.eu.
“Under the proposed new rules, identity cards will have to be produced in a uniform, credit card format (ID-1), include a machine-readable zone, and follow the minimum security standards set out by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). They will also need to include a photo and two fingerprints of the cardholder, stored in a digital format, on a contactless chip. ID cards will indicate the country code of the member state issuing them, inside an EU flag,” the European Council said in a release.
“Identity cards will have a minimum period of validity of 5 years and a maximum period of validity of 10 years. Member states may issue ID cards with a longer validity for persons aged 70 and above. If issued, ID cards for minors may have a period of validity of less than 5 years.”
“The EU is upgrading the Visa Information System (VIS) – which is currently used to hold information on all applicants for short-stay Schengen visas – to now include information on long-stay visas and residence documents; to enforce mandatory biometrics in long-stay visas (currently a national competence); and to include the fingerprints of children from the age of six and up. All visa applicants will also be profiled,” Planet Biometrics adds.
[First publication: Statewatch]
