EU faces US pressure to share police data or risk losing visa-free travel

Washington has set a year-end deadline for the agreement, leaving the EU with limited room to negotiate

The European Union is negotiating a controversial deal that could give US authorities access to police databases across Europe as a condition for maintaining visa-free travel to the United States.

According to an article published in Deutsche Welle on April 27, 2026, the negotiations center on the Enhanced Border Security Partnership. Washington has made agreement to this program a condition for countries seeking to remain in the US Visa Waiver Program, which allows citizens from participating countries to travel to the US for up to 90 days without a visa.

Most EU member states are part of the scheme, except Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Romania, whose citizens still need to apply for a visa. The European Commission confirmed that the US has set a December 31, 2026, deadline for the agreement to be in place, leaving the EU with limited room to maneuver. For most member states, losing visa-free travel to the US would be a significant setback.

Critics question the approach

Some lawmakers have pushed back against the negotiations. Dutch MEP Raquel Garcia Hermida-van der Walle, who is part of a group urging the Commission to halt the process, said, "The way we see this is a clear case of blackmail."

She warned about the implications for European citizens and questioned whether negotiations should continue "until the United States takes proper responsibility for basic fundamental rights."

Concerns over biometric and protest data

One of the most sensitive questions is what types of data could be shared. Police databases often contain biometric information such as fingerprints and facial images. Depending on the national system, they may also include data on people who have never been convicted of a crime, including suspects, asylum seekers, and in some cases, people swept up in police action around protests.

Matthias Monroy, a German surveillance researcher and activist, told Deutsche Welle, "If you're in a police database, it doesn't mean you're convicted. You can just be a suspect."

Critics fear that a police arrest in Europe could have consequences far beyond criminal investigations inside the bloc, including decisions on whether someone may board a flight or enter the US.

Garcia Hermida-van der Walle warned that peaceful protesters could be caught up in the system.

Questions over reciprocity

Monroy also questioned whether the promised reciprocity is real, meaning EU countries should also be able to access equivalent data in the US.

"There is no such... database [in the US] like we have in Germany," he said, referring to Germany's centralized data network of federal and state police authorities. "This is a clear sign that this agreement is not for both sides; it's a one-way track."

Privacy watchdog raises alarm

The European Data Protection Supervisor has warned that the proposed deal would set an important precedent. It could become the EU's first agreement involving large-scale sharing of personal data, including biometric data, for border and immigration control by a third country. The watchdog has called for a full fundamental rights impact assessment and said any data processing must be strictly necessary and proportionate.

Monroy pointed to the growing role of big data tools in policing and migration control in the US. "The US can now use that data to hunt migrants and whatever group that will be discriminated next," he said. "It could be leftists, it could be liberals, it could be people in support of prisoners or whatever, and I would call it a fascist system."

The US Mission to the European Union did not respond to Deutsche Welle's requests for comment by the time of publication.