MEPs unconvinced on benefits of body scanners

Many MEPs believe terrorists will find ways to circumvent body scanning technology

Technology should not become the "religion of counter-terrorism", according to Civil Liberties Committee MEPs discussing the use of body scanners in the European Union (EU) yesterday.

Several MEPs argued in a debate with the EU's counter-terrorism co-ordinator Gilles de Kerkhove that better information sharing among governments and security agencies should be at the forefront of the fight on terrorism.

Cypriot MEP Antigoni Papadopoulou cited health concerns over the scanning technology, especially for people wearing pacemakers, and said that the images could be seen as a "violation of dignity".

Timothy Kirkhope, deputy chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, suggested that the unpredictability of terrorists made it hard to prove that scanners are the answer, and that they could place "burdens on airport companies".

The European Commission (EC) will publish a report in the coming weeks on body scanners as requested by parliament in 2008, and de Kerkhove insisted that the report should be published as soon as possible to move the debate along.

The MEPs' concerns were echoed by their Transport Committee counterparts, who also discussed the issue yesterday.

Several members argued that no technology could provide 100 per cent security against terrorism, and that the efficiency of body scanners in detecting explosives had yet to be proved.

Philip Bradbourn, also from the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, said that he does not believe scanners are the answer to security concerns.

"No matter how much technology you have, terrorists will manage to circumvent it," he added.

Austrian MEP Eva Lichtenberger backed up this sentiment, and asked: "If terrorists simply start swallowing the explosives, then what do we do?"

However, Matthias Ruete, EC director general for transport, maintained that second-generation scanning technology had improved since 2008, when parliament said that scanners were too intrusive and questioned their health implications.

All MEPs agreed that a common EU approach to body scanners is required to manage the application of the rules on the use of the technology.

The deployment of body scanners at airports has already caused much confusion and debate. The government and UK airports remain unsure as to who will set the agenda on the technology, while many have cited concerns over privacy and human rights violations.