THE European Parliament has approved in principle a proposed European Union (EU) regulation that would allow police and other law enforcement officials within the EU’s Schengen open border area to inspect registration documentation for cars from other countries in the zone.

Britain and Ireland are not part of Schengen, which covers EU member states Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, along with Iceland and Norway.

The information will be accessed more quickly and easily through the incoming second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II), the computer network that allows participating countries to co-ordinate their border controls.