On Tuesday, the European Commission announced plans to upgrade and standardize the security features of identity cards held by an estimated 80 million Europeans who currently have non-readable cards.

“The aim is to curb the use of fraudulent documents that can also be used by terrorists and criminals to enter from non-EU countries,” the commission said in a statement.

The change would make biometric data mandatory for all countries with ID cards, EU citizenss ID cards (older than 12 years) and non-EU family members’ residence cards. The cards will in future include a cheap which will store biometric data, namely fingerprints and facial images.

“This will be accompanied with stronger safeguards on who can access the biometrics,” the commission statement said.

It is planned to replace all non-machine-readable cards within two years and all non-compliant cards within five years.

Click here to find out more about identity papers in Luxembourg.