BarcelonaThe European Commission has proposed the creation of a mobile application to digitize the identity card or passport when traveling through the Schengen area, or to enter it. The measure aims to speed up checks when, for example, taking a plane or train. For this, Brussels raises the need to create a common framework for the use of electronic travel credentials and the development of an ‘application’ named ‘EU Digital Travel’.
The Community proposal makes it clear that it would be a voluntary and free system that offers a “digital copy” of the data already stored in the chip of identity documents or passports. Therefore, Brussels advises that citizens of the member states that are part of the Schengen area who use this application will also have to carry their physical identity documents.
The European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, has stressed that digital passports “are a big step forward in strengthening the security of the Schengen area” and that they would facilitate travel, since they would allow “quick” to pass through the ” real travellers’ to focus on ‘arresting crime and terrorism suspects’.
