Officials are correct to refuse a passport to people who won’t give their fingerprints, but ID cards do not require them, the Council of State said in a ruling on Wednesday.

The council, the highest Dutch administrative court, was asked to rule on the need for fingerprints in seven cases – four passport applications and three for ID cards.

The council said that Amsterdam, The Hague, Nuth and Maastricht are within their rights to refuse passports to people who won’t allow their fingerprints to be taken because fingerprints are required under European guidelines.

However, despite Dutch law requiring fingerprints on ID cards, this is not the case in European law, the council said.

Fingerprints have been included in Dutch passports since 2009. ID cards can be used to travel within the EU but not elsewhere.