Ambassadors from the 28 member states have agreed to a proposal from the European Commission to oblige fingerprints on Identity Cards of EU citizens. The proposal still has to be approved by the European Parliament.

Because the member states have agreed with the proposal, it is plausible that the fingerprint will be mandatory again in the Netherlands with Identity cards. That was the case in the past, but that obligation was abolished in 2014, precisely because this was no longer required by the EU.

The Member States want to introduce the obligation to combat identity fraud, RTL Nieuws writes . If the proposal is finalized, EU countries will have two years to implement the decision. Current identity cards without a fingerprint remain valid for a maximum of ten years.

In the passport a fingerprint has been mandatory since 2009 in all EU member states. In the Netherlands the fingerprints are deleted after handing over the document. Privacy organizations criticize the biometric identification in the travel documents, among other things because at the end of last year it appeared that in the Netherlands rarely or never is checked .