Viajes India
8th Jan 2010
EU members divided on need for airport body scanners
BRUSSELS - European nations were divided Thursday over the need to install body scanners at European airports, with some EU member states playing down the need for beefed up security measures.
The United States, Britain and the Netherlands already have announced plans to install the scanners amid growing worldwide security concerns following the attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner flying from Amsterdam to Detroit plane on Christmas Day.
Washington is seeking enhanced security measures on all trans-Atlantic flights heading for the United States. On an average day, the lucrative North Atlantic route is crisscrossed by more than 800 passenger flights.
But ahead of a meeting Thursday of EU aviation security experts, Belgium's secretary of state for transport Etiennne Schouppe described such enhanced measures as "excessive," saying security requirements at European airports are already "strict enough."
Until now, the EU has allowed member states to decide on whether to use body scanners at airport checkpoints. In 2008, the EU suspended work on draft legislation regulating the use of body scanners after the European Parliament demanded a more in-depth study of their impact on health and privacy.
Aviation experts from the member states now must assess whether body scanners can fit into EU legislation, officials said.
Any significant action on the issue would have to be taken by the European Commission, and approved by the parliament, officials said. The process could take several months even if all member states agreed on the need for scanners.
