EU supports biometrics visa database

The European Parliament last week backed proposals to set up a European Visa Information System (VIS), which would be the world’s largest biometric database. Critics claim that the system brings closer the Big Brother threat to citizen privacy. Leaders of the British Conservatives have called for Britain to opt out of the system.

EurActiv reports that the VIS will hold seventy million sets of fingerprints, and will be aimed principally to improve the management and security of EU visa-issuing procedures by allowing all relevant authorities in Schengen states to pool information, as well as fighting terrorism and other serious crime by allowing police and Europol to have supervised access.

British Conservative representatives in the European Parliament were vociferous in their oppostion to the VIS. Conservative Justice and Home Affairs Spokesman MEP Philip Bradbourn said: “The implications…are far-reaching and will affect all EU citizens. To give just one example, the provisions of this Treaty could mean that data be shared and exchanged on all EU citizens regardless of whether they are suspected or convicted of a crime.” Bradbourn added: “Overall this…is a classic example of where a few member states are trying to impose their system on all member states. The eight countries signed up to the Prum Treaty are now trying to foist it upon the rest.”

Michael: Text below should be in a blue box

Schengen Agreement

The Schengen Agreement, signed in 1985, is an agreement among European states which abolished systematic border controls among the participating countries. It also includes provisions on common policy on the temporary entry of persons (including the Schengen Visa), the harmonization of external border controls, and cross-border police co-operation. Thirty states — including most European Union states and three non-EU members Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland — have signed the agreement and fifteen have implemented it so far. The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom only take part in the police cooperation measures and not the common border control and visa provisions. Border posts and checks have been removed between Schengen area states and a common Schengen visa allows tourist or visitor access to the area.

Prum Treaty

The Prum Treaty, also called Schengen III, was signed on 29 August 2005. The convention was agreed among the Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Austria, and it aimed to step up cross border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism, cross border crime, and illegal migration.