One of the reasons behind the increase is that few airports currently have sufficient equipment to read biometric information and compare it with the passport holder, even though a good deal of today's ID documents have biometric data installed. Thus, authorities remain unable to correctly read and verify the information, for example by matching fingerprints.
"We know that once you have entered the Schengen area, the control measures are rather lax," senior adviser Mads Jensen Odnes of the National ID center told NRK.
The present situation has been severely criticized above all by Norway's opposition Socialist Left Party (SV), which attacked the government for neglecting the party's proposal to adopt obligatory biometric identification when crossing the Schengen border, which would facilitate proper registration of asylum seekers in Norway.
"It has been very surprising how little interest the government has shown for our proposal," Karin Andersen of the Socialist Left Party told NRK.
"The new cards are designed to specifically hamper forgery since they are based on biometric material and strengthen the security of identity. We want these cards are applied on a large scale and we believe that this will eventually impede ID spoofing," Werp said.
He also ensured the government will keep cooperating with EU member states on strengthening external border controls in the Schengen.