奇速英语

法国要求游客一律进行指纹检查

British holidaymakers(度假者) face having their fingerprints checked every time they travel to Europe under French plans. Brussels officials are working on proposals(建议书) to set up gates at airports and ports to check passengers as they enter the EU’s Schengen Zone.

Only travelers from non-EU countries will face the checks to match people against the biometric data stored on their passports, but France wants it to be extended to everyone. That means British travelers would face the checks when they board the Eurostar at St Pancras or when they arrive at airports in any of the EU countries in the Schengen Zone, including France, Spain, Greece and Portugal.

Under the “smart borders system”, it will check the information kept digitally on microchips in passports, which include a record of an individual’s facial characteristics and their fingerprints.

When passengers arrive at border controls instead of having their passport checked by a guard, they will use the machines. The system will run similarly to the E-passport gates that operate at some British airports but with the addition of fingerprint checks. The European Commission is currently drawing up proposals for the plan, which will be discussed at a meeting in December.

It is being introduced to improve security at the external border of the Schengen Zone, to stop illegal immigrants and to detect if people from outside the EU have stayed longer than they are allowed. It includes most EU countries as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, but not the UK and Ireland.

The French government have told the Commission that they want all people including EU citizens to have their passports checked by the new scheme. They said the Schengen Zone is facing three challenges: a steady rise in passenger flows, biggest ever pressure of immigrants and increased terrorist threats. Ten journalists and two policemen were killed after an attack by three gunmen on the Charlie Hebdo magazine office in Paris in January.