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New fingerprintint procedures at airports { September 30 2004 }

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   http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7ead54ac-12fe-11d9-b869-00000e2511c8.html

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7ead54ac-12fe-11d9-b869-00000e2511c8.html

Ashcroft tries to ease border concerns
By Raphael Minder in The Hague
Published: September 30 2004 17:35 | Last updated: September 30 2004 17:35

John Ashcroft, the US attorney general, on Thursday insisted Europeans should view new fingerprinting procedures at US airports as evidence of effective anti-terrorism co-operation with Europe rather than a restriction on personal freedom.

Mr Ashcroft's visit to Europe coincided with Friday's extension of the US border security scheme to visitors from countries that have an agreement with the US that waives a visa requirement. These countries include 15 of the 25 European Union nations as well as Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei and Singapore.

The US administration has launched a charm offensive to ease European concerns about tighter US border checks and other security measures, including access to 34 items of information from European airlines' passenger name records.

The European parliament has gone to the European court of justice, the EU's highest court, challenging the European Commission's agreement with the US releasing limited passenger information to US customs officials.

As part of the effort to win over Europe, Mr Ashcroft said the US next month would start discussing a possible extension of its visa-waiver programme to the 10 EU countries, mostly East European, that do not currently benefit from the waiver having joined the EU in May. The fact that these EU newcomers are not covered by the US visa-waiver regime has created tensions within the EU, with Poland's minister on Friday asking for “solidarity” from his EU counterparts on the issue.

Mr Ashcroft said: “It is in our interest to treat all countries identically. We are not a nation that will be advantaged by limiting people coming to the US. Our objective is to promote open borders in the context of freedom and security.”

Nevertheless Asa Hutchinson, the US undersecretary for border and transportation security, said in an interview that the outcome of the new round of visa-waiver negotiations should not be seen as a fait accompli. “This is not a simple process and there are very strict security requirements that must be met, such as how countries deal with stolen passports and visa denial rates.”

In a sign of improved co-operation on anti-terrorism, Mr Ashcroft confirmed that an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation would be sent to The Hague as a liaison officer at Europol, the European police agency, together with a secret service agent from the Department of Homeland Security.

One bone of contention, however, remains the timing of US legislation requiring visitors to hold a passport with biometric features. The US Congress has agreed to a delay until October 2005, but the EU maintains it will need more time since the rollout of EU biometric passports is only scheduled for late 2005.

Separately, Mr Ashcroft said it was “almost a certainty” that the US administration would challenge a ruling this week by a US district court judge against the US Patriot Act, on the grounds that surveillance powers granted the FBI were unconstitutional.



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