The EU is considering introducing an electronic travel authorisation system, similar to one approved in the United States, to monitor visitors arriving without a visa, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
President George W. Bush last Friday signed legislation introducing a raft of counter-terrorism measures including such an electronic screening system for arrivals from countries allowed to visit the US without a visa.
"We are considering introducing this here. A final decision has not yet been taken," said Friso Roscam Abbing, spokesman for European Union Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini.
The US scheme will require travellers from western Europe and some other nations, who benefit from the US visa waiver programme, to register online and fill in a questionnaire before travelling.
Roscam Abbing said Brussels would evaluate whether the security benefits to the system outweighed the added inconvenience to passengers. "Those two aspects will have to be assessed before we take a final decision," he told reporters in Brussels. The EU spokesman added that such a system was already in place and apparently working well in Australia.
Senior EU justice official Jonathan Faul met with US Homeland Security deputy Assistant Secretary Paul Rosenzweig in Brussels on Monday to hear about the US online registration system and how it would impact on Europeans.
"We consider the (US) law... a potentially positive step in the right direction as, opposed to previously, it is focussing more on security issues rather than just immigration features," said Roscam Abbing. However the European Commission is seeking more details of the legal, technical and political ramifications of the scheme.
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