Way clear for body scanners

The European Parliament has endorsed with an overwhelming majority a resolution on the use of body scanners at airports, clearing the way for the Commission to put forward a formal proposal regulating their use.

An EU official said the use of body scanners, deemed by some lobby groups as invading privacy, would now be regulated through a set of specific rules to be tabled by the Commission in the coming weeks. However, he emphasised member states would not be obliged to install the scanners.

“It will be up to individual member states to decide on whether they wish to enhance their security through these scanners,” he stressed.

The scanners are very expensive and will involve higher security costs to maintain.

So far, neither the government nor Malta International Airport has commented on the issue.

On the other hand, some member states, such as the Netherlands and the UK, have already said they would be introducing them.

In their resolution, MEPs asked the Commission to add body scanners to the list of inspection methods authorised at European level. But they also made it clear such scanners were not to employ the use of X-rays due to potential health risks.

Certain scanners tested so far in the EU, particularly in the UK, used backscatter X-ray systems that expose the person to a low-dose of X-rays. These will not be allowed, according to MEPs. Millimetre-wave systems, which do not emit any radiation, will, however, be allowed. This technique has been tested at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.

In its resolution, the EP laid down the definition of common rules and minimum standards, particularly the respect for human dignity. It makes it clear that passengers will be given the right to refuse body scanning as long as they submit themselves to other methods of detection “that guarantee the same level of effectiveness”.

The MEP-rapporteur on the issue, Spaniard Luis de Grandes Pascual, told the EP the equipment to be used was totally different from earlier scanners that caused a scandal in 2008 – when the Commission considered authorising their use in the EU - because they revealed passengers’ anatomy in an immodest manner.

“Today’s equipment shows only ‘stick figures’ and there won’t be any body images,” he said.