EU parliament body scanners offer 'virtual strip search'
VALENTINA POP
10.12.2008 @ 17:22 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Parliament has eight scanners "on stock" that can expose body parts if put in use, a parliament spokeswoman has confirmed. MEPs recently opposed an attempt by the European Commission to allow airports to use this type of scanner, already in place in British, Dutch, Swiss, US and Australian airports.
Full body scanners are at use in US airports, but not in Europe (Photo: Transport and Security Administration, USA)
The decision to acquire eight full-body scanners was taken by the European Parliament's administrative body in 2002, following the al-Qaeda attacks of 11 September 2001, as a measure to protect MEPs and visitors, Marjory van den Broeke, spokeswoman for the parliament's secretary-general told EUobserver.
"They have luckily never been used, but they could be if the authorities decided to rise the terror alert to code orange or red," she said.
The eight machines cost €68,000 each and were distributed to the parliament's buildings in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg, Ms van den Broeke explained.
She also stressed that the scanners were only "on stock" and to be used only in the case of a terrorist threat. A resolution passed in the parliament at the end of October opposed the daily use of such machines in EU airports, she said.
German daily newspaper Die Welt wrote on Wednesday (10 December) that the body scanners were hidden "in the basement" of the European Parliament.
British MEP Graham Watson, head of the parliament's Liberal group (ALDE) proposed "a test run of the machines on the European Parliament's secretary-general and its staff."
"The parliament's drive for transparency seems to have gone a little bit too far," Mr Watson told EUobserver, adding that this matter would be definitely brought up in the meeting with the other party leaders.
German centre-right MEP Markus Ferber, who sits on the budgetary control committee told Die Welt this was just "another example of a waste of tax money," criticising his colleagues who had approved the purchase of the equipment.
"This is a huge mess. It's the pinnacle of hypocrisy for the MEPs who are responsible for purchasing these devices being the same ones who ranted and raved about installing them at airports," he said.
Late October, MEPs opposed a legislative proposal to allow EU airports to use full-body scanners, arguing that they infringe privacy rights and data protection laws and undermine people's dignity.
They said the machines were in effect a "virtual strip search."
In the US, where such scanners are used in 10 of the biggest airports, passengers can decline to step into the machines and opt instead for a pat-down.
UK and the Netherlands also use these types of scanners, while Germany has rejected them as "nonsense."
