As of today, EU citizens applying for a passport or identity card must submit their fingerprints.

The measure is intended to check whether the person using the passport is actually its owner. The system is already in use in Germany and Sweden. The holder's fingerprints are recorded on a chip in the identity card or passport and are also registered in a central database. Four fingerprints will be taken for each travel document, two of which are recorded on the chip.

On Friday, the European Court of Justice rejected a lawsuit brought by a civil rights organisation which defends citizen's rights to privacy. Many Dutch expatriates have criticised the decision. They can no longer have their passports extended at consulates and will have to travel hundreds of kilometres extra to obtain new travel documents.