After years of ignoring their illegal immigration problems, the EU has finally decided to copy America’s border security measures by fingerprinting all entries and exits from all visitors to the EU.

The measures would ensure more secure borders and prevent visitors from illegally entering Europe, or overstaying the three-month stay given to tourists and EU visa holders, Franco Frattini said.

And how does the EU propose to do this?  At best, they can state that a person has overstayed their visit.  Good luck actually finding the person.

“The electronic register should include viable biometric identifiers,” Frattini told reporters during two-day talks of EU justice and interior ministers. He said visitors overstaying their welcome were “the No. 1″ cause of illegal immigration.

Uh, duh?!  What a great insight.  Illegals come from people overstaying their welcome.    Also, by requiring biometrics, the database they store them in will not be guaranteed safe and a country could circumvent their own laws by asking the EU for a copy of their database.

In reality, what this plan is, is a clear cut case of retaliation against the United States for its actions against EU allies.  It is also frightening in its possible privacy violations.

Such a data system, modeled after one adopted by the U.S., would store 19 pieces of sensitive passenger data for 13 years, including e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and payment details of flight tickets.

Nice.  More databases.  Less security.  More harassment.  On the upside, maybe I’ll get some entertaining telemarketing calls from The Netherlands now.