This study accounts for the emergence of a supranational biometric control regime in Europe. The empirical focus lies on the institutionalization of Eurodac, an automated fingerprint identification system covering asylum seekers and "illegal" immigrants. Who promoted the idea of setting up an automated biometric system in the European Community? Which behavioral logics were underlying the negotiation of the Eurodac Regulations in the Justice and Home Affairs Council? And how did the European Commission get involved in policing the so-called "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice"?
This article has been publixhed in EIpO European Integration online Papers Vol. 10, No.6