Delay in distribution of biometric passports to Czechs

The Ministry of the Interior announced on Tuesday that there would be a delay in the manufacture and distribution of new passports for Czech citizens including their biometric data. The Czech Republic was supposed to start providing its citizens with passports containing a copy of their fingerprints in May 2008. According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, this has now been postponed until April 2009. The delay has been attributed to prolonged negotiations in the European Parliament about the scheme. Biometric passports are something the European Union would like to see implemented across its member states, but questions of data protection are still being discussed in the European Parliament. Czechs have been able to apply for passports containing an information chip since September 2006, but up until now, this chip has only contained a digital photograph of the passport holder.