Do Denmark, Andorra, North Macedonia each mandatorily collect biometric data of the citizens & residents for anything other than issuance of passports?
Executive summary
None of the three countries — Denmark, Andorra and North Macedonia — are shown in the provided reporting to mandatorily collect biometric data from their citizens or residents for domestic identity schemes beyond the biometric requirements tied to passports or to the EU’s border systems; Denmark applies biometric standards to passports (with specific exemptions for fingerprints), Andorra does not operate a national biometric ID card system according to the overview, and North Macedonia is listed as a European country not issuing biometric ID cards [1] [2] [3].
1. Denmark: passports use biometrics but domestic mandatory collection beyond travel documents is not shown
Denmark decided to implement the Schengen/EC biometric passport standards in its national law, meaning passports carry biometric features used for verifying document authenticity and identity, but the EU regulation on biometric passports exempted Denmark from some fingerprint requirements and the provided material notes Denmark’s specific treatment rather than evidence of a wider mandatory domestic biometric ID program [1] [4] [2]. The sources indicate biometric collection in Denmark is tied to travel-document issuance and Schengen-related passport-standard implementation, not to an always‑on national biometric registry for all citizens or residents beyond passport issuance; however, the sources do not contain a full catalogue of every Danish domestic biometric program, so reporting cannot categorically rule out other compulsory collection absent additional legal texts [1] [4].
2. Andorra: no national biometric ID cards reported; passport/travel interactions are the main biometric touchpoint
Andorra is listed among small European states that do not issue national identity cards in the Regula Forensics overview, which explicitly notes some states like Andorra and Denmark “don’t issue national identity cards at all” in the European context, implying no country‑wide biometric ID card program for citizens is recorded there in that source [3]. The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) and related Schengen border measures concern biometric collection of non‑EU travellers at external borders, but those are obligations on border crossing and not an internal domestic mandate on residents’ biometric collection; the materials show Andorran nationals are treated within the travel‑processing rules rather than as subjects of a domestic biometric ID regime [5] [6].
3. North Macedonia: absence of biometric national ID cards in the survey — travel‑related biometrics don’t equate to mandatory domestic collection
A global overview singled out North Macedonia among European countries that do not issue biometric ID cards, marking it as an exception in Europe alongside Serbia and Switzerland in that dataset [3]. That absence in the source describes identity‑card issuance practices, and while North Macedonian citizens travelling to Schengen countries would be subject to the EES biometric checks for non‑EU travellers at borders, the reporting does not show North Macedonia itself mandating biometric capture of all citizens or residents for domestic identification purposes beyond passports or travel documents [6] [7].
4. Limits of the reporting and the border‑biometrics caveat
The dossier makes clear that Europe’s newer systems (like the Entry/Exit System) require or will require biometric capture of non‑EU travellers at external borders — fingerprints and facial images — which affects citizens of non‑EU states while they cross Schengen borders, but that is a border‑entry requirement, not proof of a domestic mandatory biometric registry in the travelers’ home countries [6] [7] [8]. The available sources focus on passport regulation, the EU’s biometric border regime and a survey of biometric ID card issuance; they do not provide comprehensive legislative text from Denmark, Andorra or North Macedonia about every biometric program inside each country, so the conclusion—based on the provided reporting—is that there is no documented mandatory domestic biometric collection of citizens/residents beyond passport issuance for these three states in the cited material [3] [1] [4]. Additional primary legal sources or government publications from each country would be required to eliminate residual doubt about any narrower, sectoral biometric mandates not covered in these summaries.