German Court challenges EU Regulation on security standards for passports and travel documents
Submitted by Michael Wukoschitz on 3 September, 2012 - 12:18
In the case concerned, the claimant had filed for a new passport but refused to provide his finger prints. The city of Bochum has therefore denied the issuance of the passport and the claimant filed a law suit against the city of Bochum before the Administrative Court Gelsenkirchen.
The court has doubts whether
- the European Union had any legislative competence to enact rules on standards for security features and biometrics in passports and travel documents as in Reg. (EC) No 2252/2004 because there was no direct relation of such rules to the protection and securitiy of EU external frontiers;
- these rules would comply with the right to privacy as protected by Art. 8 of the European Convention on Human
Rights and the protection of personal data
and referred to the Court of the European Union the question:
"Is Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004 of 13 December 2004, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 444/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009, valid?"
