The EU Council has adopted two regulations in the areas of Justice and Home Affairs which establish a framework for interoperability among EU information systems. This framework will allow easier access to information sharing and will greatly improve security in the EU as well as allow for quicker and more efficient checks at external borders.
The regulations establish the following:
i. A European search portal - this would allow competent authorities to search multiple information systems simultaneously, using biographical and biometric data.
ii. A shared biometric matching service- this would enable the searching and comparing of biometric data (fingerprints and facial images) on several systems.
iii. A common identity repository -thiswould make biographical and biometric data of third-country nationals available in several EU information systems.
iv. A multiple identity detector -this will determine whether the biographical identity data contained in the search exists in other systems covered so as to enable the detection of multiple identities linked to the same set of biometric data.
The systems covered by the two regulations provide support for national authorities in the areas of security, border and migration management, visa processing and asylum.
Further information is available here.
