EU Court of Justice rejects challenge to biometric passports

A German man has challenged the inclusion of fingerprints in his passport, but the European Union’s highest court has rejected the case, saying the biometric data prevents illegal entry into the EU and reduces fraud.

“The contested measures pursue… the general interest objective of preventing illegal entry into the EU,” the European Court of Justice said in a statement. “To that end, they are intended to prevent both the falsification of passports and the fraudulent use thereof.”

According to a report in Reuters, rules requiring biometric passports to include fingerprints apply to all member states, with the exception of Britain and Ireland.

Reported previously, the European Commission recently referred Belgium to the Court of Justice of the EU for not implementing fingerprint biometric passports more than three years after a deadline had been set.  

A Dutch court also recently asked the European high court whether EU regulations related to the biometric passport mandate infringes on rights to privacy, though the court’s position from this most recent rejection is clear.

Article Topics

biometric passport  |  epassport  |  EU  |  fingerprint