Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-21-Speech-2-525"
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"en.20081021.45.2-525"2
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".
Mr President, I believe that today an important goal has been achieved, and that is the goal of launching a debate on body scanners, in order to understand whether this is an issue that needs to be addressed or not. It seems to me that the debate has shown there is a clear will to discuss the issue.
With regard to the method, and partly because of what has been decided with the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon – and I hope that it will later be adopted by all the EU countries – I realise that Parliament wants to have its say, and wants to feel that it is a full legislator. I have only abided by the current rules. I do not have the authority to modify comitology; that is not within my powers. I can only have a report and ensure that Parliament is always involved in any case when there is a debate on an important issue, and also say whether a debate on the issue ought to take place.
The workshop that we have arranged for 6 November, which will include representatives of the Member States and MEPs, will be an opportunity – not that it is the only one, since it might be the first of a series of specific meetings – to assess all aspects of the use of body scanners, starting with what I consider to be the most important, human health. We will then tackle all the other problems relating to the possible non-mandatory use of this instrument, with the consensus of Parliament at the time. I do not wish to impose anything on anyone: I just want to assess possibilities.
I say again that I believe that it is right to do this with Parliament, with the commitment that I have made – and I repeat it now, at the conclusion of this debate – to officially consult the European Data Protection Supervisor and listen to the views of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. As far as I am concerned, if after all the evaluations, on which I will report to Parliament, it is decided to go ahead with the choice of using body scanners, as far as the European Commission is concerned, my commitment is that body scanners
and I can guarantee this and I say it once again – will never be made compulsory and an alternative to them must always be provided by the airports.
If there is a European regulation then it must be on these terms: then, of course, if the laws are infringed it is clear that there will be consequences. If a legal provision is adopted, if we have a European regulation, then as far as the Commission is concerned one may agree or disagree, but that is the way things are. I make a commitment to do something: then if someone does not believe what I say and thinks it cannot be done. Otherwise we will not do anything.
As far as the images are concerned, they will not be recorded and they will never be stored. Thus it will only be a sort of walk through, given everything that will have to be done first. Should a decision be taken to use body scanners as an optional tool, the images will never be recorded or stored. That point will be in the text of the European Commission’s regulation. If anyone subsequently breaks the rules, then the European Commission will take the appropriate measures. The same goes for any provision, and any criminal code. If anyone breaks a law then they incur the penalties laid down by the criminal code.
Today there is a manual body search: any official who touches a citizen inappropriately is violating their privacy and breaking the rules, and is thus not abiding by the law. The official will certainly be charged and found guilty, after a proper legal process. Above all, I undertake to take great pains on the issue of health. I believe that all these guarantees must and can be assessed afterwards by Parliament, which I intend to consult again at successive stages, starting with the workshop to be held on 6 November. This will be a meeting where MEPs will be able to put questions, say what they think and raise any queries, including technical ones. I can give guarantees of a political nature, but not of a technical nature. We need the technical experts to respond. After the technical assessments, we will be able to give a response on that point. The MEPs who have been invited to the workshop will also participate in the assessment.
I therefore believe that I am in agreement with what was said in particular by Mr Fava and Mr Cappato on this point. A general consensus can be reached, which will be a joint assessment as to whether or not it is advisable in the future to use this technological tool. If it proves not to be possible to use it because the relevant criteria have not been met, then it will not even be included in the list of possible tools to use. If we were to come up with a positive verdict, after all the steps that I have promised to carry out, then the text of the regulation would contain all the guarantees that I have undertaken to incorporate into it, as I have said both in my opening remarks in response to the question and in my concluding reply. This is a commitment, and I am used to keeping to my commitments, above all those made to a Parliament of which I was a part for nearly 15 years."@en1
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