Stulz: Could you please explain to me what the Policy of the EU is with regards to ID cards and their introduction to states, especially the UK, who currently do not use such systems.?
Mateus Falke: Certainly. The Policy of the EU is that there should be a Pan European system for the checking of ID cards authenticity and they recognise that almost a third of EU member states do not enforce an ID card system which makes this very difficult. The intention is to encourage those who operate ID card systems to standardise them, and help financially where required, further they are encouraging other states to adopt this system as it will alow the freer movement of EU citizens to move freely without the need to carry passports. The policy document speaks of co-operation between state and the citizens and does not encourage undue enforcement of thier implementation.
Stulz: Thanks. Now are you able to clarify the situation with regards to the ability of the state to track individuals via the use of ID cards and what Biometric data they should contain?
Mateus Falke Of course, The EU does not encourage states to allow the tracking of citizens by use of ID cards, in fact they strongly urge state Governments to only use what measures are necessary to discourage forging of the cards with a simplified system to verify authenticity. With regards to the Biometric data, the Policy of the EU is that this data should be voluntary and restricted to urgent medical information, such as blood type, Allergies and ongoing medical conditions that may be crucial in an emergency. The EU does not encourage the use of iris scan technology nor fingerprint scan technology as neither have proved reliable in test carried by the US military or the independent research for the EU. Further any system of such cards that a given state may intorduce would cause problems elswhere in Europe where states have written constitutions that actively ban the state from storing such information or tracking citizens except in exceptional circumstances and authorised by a Judge or Magistrate, depending on the State.
Stulz From the information you have available to you, can you tell me what encouragement, inducements or support the EU may have given to Britain regarding the proposed ID scheme here in the UK?
Mateus Falke There is limited information available on this type of question, but what I can see is a statement from Romano Prodi to Prime Minister Blair where he actively tried to dissuade the UK Government from the introduction of cards using Iris scan and Fingerprint scan technologies. He stated that in the experience of Italy and other states a Photograph scanned on and protected with secret information against fraud was sufficient. He felt the expence too high, the possible abuses by security personell too real and the liklihood of the entire ID idea being scrapped by a future Government to be realistic. He felt that it is better to have a simple system that could be protected and supported by the general population than a cumbersome system that had flaws built into it from the start and lacked popular support.