Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-21-Speech-2-509"
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"en.20081021.45.2-509"2
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Mr President, I would like to thank Parliament for having tabled this oral question, because it allows me to clarify an event and an issue which I consider to be important. With regard to passengers’ rights – their right to safety and security and also their right not to have to put up with sometimes very long queues – as well as a control system that seemed to be obsolete and not always very effective, we have criticised all of this, and when I was an MEP I did so too. Instead, we must aim at having a control system that allows citizens to travel in as easy and pleasant a manner as possible. Thus, a few weeks ago we also announced which objects can be carried as hand baggage and which objects cannot.
The other issue is with regard to health, which I consider to be a priority: at the workshop to be held on 6 November, we will ask all those responsible for air safety to give us news from the various countries of the EU on any reports of damage that might be caused by body scanners to human health: this means studies by universities, investigations by the various ministries of health or similar bodies, or statistics from countries that already use body scanners, starting with the United Kingdom, to find out if such risks exist.
Having said that, I have not taken any decision, nor do I intend to force the issue on this point. I am merely putting forward a problem to Parliament for consideration. Do we wish to examine this alternative, non-mandatory form of carrying out checks in airports, or not? That is the question. If we wish to examine this proposal, then we must verify whether it is feasible, or in other words whether it is possible, first and foremost with regard to health, and then we will have to look at other criteria, starting with respect for individual rights.
Additionally, it will be vital for the regulatory provision that may result from this to establish that operators will have to be far away and unable to see directly, but will have to be in a special, closed location. In other words, every guarantee must be given to ensure that this does not become an invasive tool, since it ought to be merely a tool intended to make things easier for citizens and to provide them with greater assurances. It is also true that, from the data at our disposal, in airports where the body scanner system exists, the majority of people choose to go through the body scanner rather than undergo an alternative form of check.
These are some of the matters that need to be considered. Of course, we have an option to regulate, if Parliament decides to agree to an examination of the idea of the body scanners. Then, there is also the possibility of further scrutiny by Parliament. It is my intention, as I have always said, partly because of my lengthy experience in this Chamber, to involve Parliament. That is why I was very willing and very happy to come to this Chamber today to debate the issue of body scanners. My aim is to involve Parliament and to come to a decision together.
Do we want there to be Community regulation, if all the stages in examining body scanners are passed, or do we want to leave using this tool up to individual Member States? I believe that, if a decision is taken to look into the possibility of body scanners and if this possibility were found to be viable, it would be fairer and better for European citizens to have Community legislation. I believe that this would provide a better guarantee to all citizens who freely chose to go through the security checks using the body scanner system, as an alternative to another system, which would remain available in all the other airports, namely a manual body search.
Of course, I realise that every kind of check is personally invasive. For me personally, a manual search is perhaps more invasive than being checked in a body scanner. Everyone is free to make their own choice. We do not live in a perfect world. Unfortunately, we have to face many unpleasant situations; unfortunately, we have to tackle the terrorism problem, we have to tackle the crime problem, we have to tackle the drug trafficking problem, we have to tackle the Mafia and Camorra problem, all in the country that I know best, and so checks are unfortunately necessary. We do find some consequences of that, including for individuals, and we must ensure that the consequences for individuals are as slight as possible, by ensuring that there are no recordings, no notes and no infringements of privacy or fundamental human rights.
That is why I believe that it is right to debate this issue. Naturally, I defer to the wishes of Parliament, after having sought to explain the reasons why I have brought this possibility to the attention of Parliament. I hope that it can be dealt with and discussed purely with the interests of citizens in mind.
The objective of the action being taken by the Commission and the Transport and Energy Directorate-General is to move in a direction that is helpful to citizens: always to protect citizens’ rights under all circumstances is a commitment that I have made before this very Parliament, and which I intend to continue to honour.
The aim of the proposal – I want to state it very clearly, and therefore I am happy that we can discuss this matter today – is not the decision by the Commission to add body scanners as from 2010. There has obviously been a misunderstanding. The Commission has put a question to Parliament: does it consider that it would be useful to discuss the application and use of body scanners in airports as a non-mandatory checking system? That is the aim of the proposal, and that is what is stated in Article 4(2) of the regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules in the field of civil aviation security. The measure currently being considered by the European Parliament, under the comitology procedure with scrutiny, is restricted to making provision for the possibility of using body scanners as a means for ensuring aviation security.
With regard to the timetable, only if Parliament declares itself in favour, and only if we have verified that these instruments are useful and not damaging, particularly in terms of citizens’ health, will we be able to assess whether to then start to make a decision establishing under what conditions these technologies can be used.
With regard to the procedure, in line with the comitology procedure with scrutiny, on 4 September I informed the chairman of the relevant parliamentary committee, which is the Committee on Transport and Tourism. Mr Costa replied to me on 26 September by letter, requesting further information, particularly with regard to the use of body scanners, namely, as to how the Commission intended to use the body scanners should a positive opinion be given.
In my letter replying to Mr Costa, sent on 7 October, I stressed several points. The first was that the measure under consideration was perhaps to look at the possibility of using body scanners as a supplementary option for checking passengers and not as a mandatory requirement. In short, passengers would be able to choose whether to go through a body scanner
should body scanners be deemed to be suitable, or to submit to a manual check as is currently the case.
I stated that some aspects, especially the impact on passengers’ health and particularly their privacy, will have to be analysed in more depth before any regulation is adopted regarding body scanners. In addition, the European Data Protection Supervisor’s office would be involved – this is still what I put in the letter sent on 7 October to Mr Costa. Amongst other things, the Supervisor has already been invited, together with national experts, experts in the sector, and the MEPs on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Committee on Transport and Tourism, to take part in the workshop that is to be held on 6 November, with the aim of guaranteeing transparency, and of course prior to any decision being made. This meeting, which may also be repeated, is to establish whether there are any health risks, which is the issue that most concerns me. We need to know if these body scanners are damaging to the health of those who freely choose to go through them. We will then seriously evaluate their effectiveness, and this means, of course, listening to everything relating to citizens’ rights to privacy. On this point, I repeat, the European Data Protection Supervisor will be heard, and I also intend to hear the view of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
How might they be used, if Parliament were to decide to give the green light to an examination of the idea of body scanners? In my view, they would be used only as a non-mandatory tool and, of course, an alternative would always have to be provided under all circumstances, and there would therefore have to be such an alternative in airports. Thus, it would not be the only option, but one of the possibilities.
The second point is that the images would not be kept but would be immediately deleted; that is, there ought to be a technical mechanism to prevent the image of a person who decides to pass through a body scanner from being recorded. Thus it would be immediately deleted and absolutely not recorded – recording would be made impossible."@en1
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