Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-11-Speech-3-018"

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"Mr President, I too am pleased about the progress we have made in 2003 in crucial areas such as the control of external borders, asylum, immigration and the prevention and combating of crime. As a Liberal politician with a fundamental belief in the basic freedoms upon which our democracies are based, I also think that 2003 is the time for some basic reflections upon the initiatives that have already been implemented and, especially, that are being planned under the overall heading of security. I fully acknowledge that the terrorist attacks of 2001 are cause for revising and upgrading our security. As I see it, the attacks of 2001 were above all attacks on the democratic values and fundamental freedoms that we cherish. It is therefore crucial that terrorism should not cause us to compromise in relation to these fundamental values. More specifically, I am thinking, for example, of third countries being permitted direct access to personal data in central reservation systems for air passengers, the introduction of armed marshals on aircraft and the introduction of biometric data into the travel documents of third-country citizens and into the passports of all EU citizens. Quite a few of these initiatives involve very extensive intrusions into the sanctity of private life, raising as yet unsolved issues in relation to current legislation on data safety and the risks of data being misused. I think, in actual fact, that it is time we now did some reflecting upon whether or not these security arrangements are out of proportion. In other words, do the initiatives comply with the basic criteria governing the fundamental freedoms that we, of course, specifically cherish in the European Union? Are the benefits of the initiatives proportionate to their cost? In this area, I am concerned that the Commission was not even in a position to inform me, as rapporteur, about the biometric data required of third-country citizens and about the precise numbers of visa applicants, falsified travel documents etc. The question I should therefore like to put to the Commissioner concerns whether or not the initiatives now being taken with a view to stepping up security are commensurate with a concern not to intrude upon the sanctity of private life and the personal dignity of EU citizens."@en1

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