Premier Ewart Brown has called for Bermudian passports to be accepted in Europe in the same way as British passports.

He made the point when he chaired an Overseas Territory Consultative Council (OTCC) session yesterday on visa-free travel for British Overseas Territory Countries' (BOTC) passport holders.

According to a statement from press secretary Glenn Jones, the Premier made a presentation with the objective of alleviating what he described as a "disconnect throughout the European Union on how to handle Bermuda passport holders".

Dr. Brown said: "If Bermudians are British citizens their passports should be accepted anywhere in the European Union just as British passports are. Right now that is not the case.

" I think our citizens would be very pleased to have this discrepancy resolved."

The press statement said that other Overseas Territories have voiced a similar desire on the topic and Dr. Brown has agreed to have the Government of Bermuda take the lead.

"Sen. Walton Brown has already begun work in this area including talks with former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Meg Munn and Head of Passports for the United Kingdom Patrick Owens. Current Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Gillian Merron pledged to work with the OT leaders to advance the issue," it explained.

The Royal Gazette reported in July how the Senate was told that Bermudian passport holders would no longer have to apply for visas to 29 European Union Countries if their document is stamped "right of abode in the UK".

According to Sen. Brown, rather then apply for the British passport, Bermudians could now send their passports to the UK consular office in New York to get a stamp that would allow them access to all EU countries and other visa-free countries for British nationals.

However, Sen. Brown, said the introduction of the stamp was only the first step, and hopefully Bermuda passport holders would not have to send their documents abroad in the near future.

"Our hope is that new Bermuda passports will be issued with the stamp already included and that passports already issued will be stamped once validated through a process less complex than that which is currently in place," he said.

In recent months many of the EU countries have changed their travel requirements for those travelling on the Bermudian passport.

At one point this caused problems on a school trip to France, when students with their Bermudian passports that were issued before 2002 were held up by French immigration. The stamp costs around $250 and takes up to six weeks to process.

The Italian consulate announced in January that Bermudians travelling to Europe on a Bermudian passport would have to obtain a visa in future in order to enter Italy.

The news stemmed from a change of policy of the European Union on December 26, 2006, which affected all British Overseas Territory citizens with a local passport.

Karen Stroeder, assistant to the Italian Consul for Bermuda, advised that travellers exercise the option to obtain a British passport, which means they do not need a visa to enter Italy or the European countries known as the Schengen countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

In further news from the council session yesterday, Head of Passports Mr. Owens briefed the Overseas Territories on likely changes to passport processing, which include repatriating the printing of BOTC passports to the U.K.

The press release said: "That means passports would no longer be printed in Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, if the change becomes reality. Processing times may be delayed. There would be mitigating measures devised for those needing to travel urgently."

Mr. Owens reportedly cited security concerns as the reason for the proposed change which would take effect in 2010, and said the decision-making for issuing passports would remain with the Overseas Territories.

The United Kingdom has come under public scrutiny in recent years over thousands of lost or potentially stolen passports which could end up in the hands of terrorists. The proposed change would require all U.K. passports be printed in one single facility.

The United Kingdom can enact the change on passport printing with or without the consent of the Overseas Territories' leaders.

The OTCC meetings continue today.