Europeans wanting to travel to the US without visas will now have to seek permission 48 hours prior to departure, US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday.
Chertoff told Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine that Europeans from 13 EU states entering the US under a visa waiver programme should now register online and submit a questionnaire 48 hours before they fly.
“We want to increase the levels of security with an electronic authorisation,” Chertoff said in an interview with the weekly to be published tomorrow.
The man in charge of maintaining America’s homeland security said the measures were being introduced because of the threat posed by Islamist extremists in Europe.
“When we are identifying areas where we are vulnerable, it becomes obvious that Europeans travelling without visas belong to these areas,” Chertoff said.
US and European representatives are currently renegotiating a data-sharing deal struck last October that allows US agencies involved in fighting terrorism to have conditional access to passenger data, if they uphold privacy standards.
The data - including credit card, passport and telephone details - is made available to US customs authorities, who are able to log on to airline computers unseen and withdraw dozens of pieces of information at any time.
In the Der Spiegel interview, Chertoff reaffirmed Washington’s tough stance on the issue.
“Ultimately, the Europeans should realise that we will never let another government decide who comes into the country.”
Chertoff did not say when the new, tighter measures would be introduced.
Chertoff told Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine that Europeans from 13 EU states entering the US under a visa waiver programme should now register online and submit a questionnaire 48 hours before they fly.
“We want to increase the levels of security with an electronic authorisation,” Chertoff said in an interview with the weekly to be published tomorrow.
The man in charge of maintaining America’s homeland security said the measures were being introduced because of the threat posed by Islamist extremists in Europe.
“When we are identifying areas where we are vulnerable, it becomes obvious that Europeans travelling without visas belong to these areas,” Chertoff said.
US and European representatives are currently renegotiating a data-sharing deal struck last October that allows US agencies involved in fighting terrorism to have conditional access to passenger data, if they uphold privacy standards.
The data - including credit card, passport and telephone details - is made available to US customs authorities, who are able to log on to airline computers unseen and withdraw dozens of pieces of information at any time.
In the Der Spiegel interview, Chertoff reaffirmed Washington’s tough stance on the issue.
“Ultimately, the Europeans should realise that we will never let another government decide who comes into the country.”
Chertoff did not say when the new, tighter measures would be introduced.
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