EU member states still have misgivings over US travel register plan
International Herald Tribune
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 5, 2008
LUXEMBOURG: European Union nations said Thursday they had continued misgivings at U.S. plans that demand travelers' personal health details before they are allowed into the country — but acknowledged they could do little to prevent it.
EU nations were concerned at the information Europeans could be forced to reveal including whether they had communicable diseases such as HIV-AIDS, said officials.
"Some countries have some questions about that ... especially the questions of your health," said Dragutin Mate, Slovenia's interior minister, whose country currently holds the EU presidency. "We have to be aware ... we cannot change the law of another country."
Washington this week announced plans to introduce a Web-based, pre-travel authorization system for foreigners wanting to enter the United States.
They said the plan would apply to those coming from countries that are part of the U.S. visa-free travel program and include touchy questions as to whether the traveler suffered from any communicable diseases.
That question is already asked on paper forms travelers have to fill out and present to U.S. border guards when they enter the United States.
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said some EU nations were questioning whether divulging such information was necessary, expecially if required information included sexually transmitted diseases.
"Whether a sexually transmitted disease is contagious in the stricter sense is a question that you could write a doctoral thesis about," Schaeuble said after discussions between EU justice and interior affairs ministers on the U.S. measures.
The U.S. government has repeatedly reassured the EU that the new system would not amount to a new visa, but would simply replace the current forms Europeans have to fill out when they arrive in the U.S.
Those green and white forms require visitors to supply their names, flight number, the address where they will be staying and answer various personal questions, including whether they have been convicted of war crimes.
The United States is set to implement the new measures in August. Online registration will be mandatory for all visa-free travel by Jan. 12, 2009.
EU ministers have provisionally backed plans to introduce a similar European register for Americans and other foreigners entering EU nations that participate in the bloc's passport-free travel zone.