WRITTEN QUESTION E-2178/02 by Jan Wiersma (PSE) to the Commission. Fraud involving bank cards in the Netherlands.
Date: 2002-07-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU statistics, Netherlands, electronic money, fraud, industrial counterfeiting, payment

10.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 161 E/15

As the Honourable Member may be aware, Commission translators in Portuguese and other languages are,
from time to time, called upon to establish terminology without recourse to national bodies or institutions
which would be able to settle such linguistic matters in a consensual, and final manner. In this case, every
effort was made to obtain a maximum clarity and accuracy of terminology after seeking the advice of
recognised Portuguese experts.

(1) SEC(2000) 1547/7 final.
(2) COM(2001) 428 final, OJ C 287, 12.10.2001.
(3) Written Question E-1616/02.

(2003/C 161 E/015)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2119/02

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(11 July 2002)

Subject: Identity checks at Malpensa airport

At Malpensa airport in the last few days the State police have reintroduced controls in addition to the
procedures for checking identity already introduced by the airlines, even for the Schengen area. The
controls make no distinction between Schengen and other passengers and consist in people being
physically stopped and each individual passport etc being checked, as well as the boarding card. Have the
European authorities been notified about this ‘suspension’ of the Schengen Agreements?

Supplementary answer
by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(29 January 2003)

Article 2(1) of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, which has been incorporated into
European Union law, provides that internal borders may be crossed at any point without checks on
persons being carried out purely on the ground that an internal border has been crossed.

Article 2(2) provides that checks may be reintroduced for a limited period at internal borders where there
is a threat to the public policy or national security of a Member State.

Article 2(3) provides that abolition of checks on persons at internal borders must not affect the exercise of
including
police powers under national
therefore at airports.

law throughout the territory of the Member State concerned,

According to the information received from the Italian authorities, they have not invoked the safeguard
clause under Article 2(2) but have carried out controls under Article 2(3).

Provided that the controls to which the Honourable Member’s question refers are aimed at checking
travellers’ boarding cards against their identity documents at various places in the airport, such as metal
detector checkpoints and departure gates,
following the terrorist attacks of
11 September 2001, they may be considered as controls carried out in accordance with Article 2(3).

security reasons

for

(2003/C 161 E/016)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2178/02

by Jan Wiersma (PSE) to the Commission

(18 July 2002)

Subject: Fraud involving bank cards in the Netherlands

On 17 November 1998 the European Parliament adopted a resolution (1) urging the Commission to adopt
legislation or other measures to make the use of bank and credit cards much more secure.

C 161 E/16

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

10.7.2003

Among other things, Parliament called for:

(cid:1) the introduction of magnetic strips with electronic watermarks or a chip and the affixing of the

authorised user’s photograph to the card,

(cid:1) the use of biometric characteristics to identify the cardholder to be made compulsory as soon as

possible.

A recent spate of large-scale fraud involving bank and credit cards in the Netherlands has shown that the
data recorded on the cards were not adequately protected.

Can the Commission therefore say:

1. How many frauds of this kind occur in the European Union every year?

2. What practical measures the Commission has taken to implement Parliament’s recommendations for

improving security in the use of bank and credit cards?

3. What are the obstacles to greater security in the use of bank and credit cards?

4. Whether it is now prepared to present the necessary proposals in this area to Parliament in the near

future?

(1) Resolution on the communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European
Central Bank and the Economic and Social Committee: A framework for action on combating fraud and
counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment (cid:1) A4-0396/1998 (OJ C 379, 7.12.1998, p. 5).

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(11 October 2002)

The Commission does not have precise statistics on the current level of credit card fraud in the
1.
Union. The Commission Fraud Prevention Action Plan (1) states that the proceeds from all types of
payment card fraud were estimated at EUR 600 million in the Union in 2000 (roughly 0,07 % of the
payment cards turnover).

As a result of the Resolution of the Parliament, the Commission is taking action to increase the
2.
security of payment
the
Commission adopted in February 2001 a three-year Fraud Prevention Action Plan based on a partnership
among all stakeholders. It provides for five main areas and 11 main actions that the Commission and other
parties should undertake. Security improvements are the main priority of the Action Plan.

fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash payments,

transactions. To prevent

Discussions on security issues, including on the progress in the migration to chip cards in the Union, take
place regularly at the meetings of the Union Fraud Prevention Experts Group, the steering group for the
implementation of the Fraud Prevention Action Plan.

The Commission recently launched a study which aims to provide an objective assessment of the security
of remote electronic payments (e.g. fund transfers, remote payment by card and mobile payments) in the
Internal Market. The study has been committed and final results are expected by the end of 2002.

The Commission will organise in 2003 a conference on the security of payments in the Internal Market,
with a view to improve information on the security of modern payment products and systems.

3.
The payment card schemes, the banks and retailers are deploying substantial resources in order to
introduce chip cards in all Union countries by 2005. There is a huge number of cards to be re-issued and
equipment (terminals, automated teller machines, etc.) to be replaced or modified. This process needs to be
supported by all interested parties in order to overcome reluctance and potential obstacles.

By the end of 2003, the Commission will report on progress achieved under the Fraud Prevention

4.
Action Plan and propose, if necessary, further action.

(1) Communication from the Commission ‘Preventing fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment’,

COM(2001) 11 final, of 9.2.2001.