WRITTEN QUESTION E-0899/03 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Compatibility of the Belgian fan card system with Directive 95/46/EC.
Date: 2003-03-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: disclosure of information, personal data, protection of privacy, sales promotion, sporting event, sports body

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/241

The Commission would stress that the independent authorities responsible for data protection in the
Member States and the airlines have been kept informed of the steps taken by the Commission.

The Commission would also stress that the data is not transferred without the knowledge of the data
subjects concerned. Directive 95/46/EC lays down an obligation that the persons concerned (passengers
and cabin crew) must be informed of any processing of their personal data. Regular contact between the
Commission and the airlines on this matter has helped make the airlines aware of the need to comply with
this obligation. According to the information at the Commission’s disposal, the airlines have started to
inform their passengers about data transfers to the USA.

With regard to the separate issue of the application of Article 10 of Regulation 2320/2002, which seeks
the development of ‘a mechanism to assess whether flights coming from third country airports meet the
essential security requirements’ laid down by EU law, this work is under way. Once this mechanism has
been developed with the Member States, it will apply to all flights to the European Community, including
those from the USA.

(2003/C 222 E/270)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0899/03

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(21 March 2003)

Subject: Compatibility of the Belgian ‘fan card’ system with Directive 95/46/EC

In its answer to Written Question E-3103/02 (1), the Commission indicates that, in any verification to
ensure that the Belgian ‘fan card’ system for football supporters is compatible with Directive 95/46/EC (2),
consideration must be given, inter alia, to the relevance of the data processed, starting from the purpose
for which such data was compiled and subsequently processed and the limits on the use of the data: data
must be used only for the purpose for which it was compiled.

Article 10(5) of the Belgian Safety at Football Matches Act (published in the Belgian Official Gazette of
3 February 1999) lays down that the organisers of a football match at national or international level must
take at least the following measures: (5) be responsible for the management of tickets which, at all events,
includes: the printing of tickets, the distribution thereof, control of access to and monitoring of the validity
and proper possession of the tickets.

The Belgian Football Association tinkered with that legislation and devised a system of ‘fan cards’. Any
person wishing to purchase a ticket for a Jupiler League match must possess a ‘fan card’. Any person
wishing to acquire a ‘fan card’ must supply certain personal details: name and address, telephone number,
sex, language, identity card number, etc. The application form notes that the personal data will be entered
in a central file held by the Professional Football League in order to guarantee safety inside football
grounds and supervision of supporters. Unless otherwise stated, it may be processed for the provision of
information and, by the League’s partners, for the commercial promotion of their products.

On the reverse side of the ‘fan card’ is the logo of the ‘Go4Fun Club’, membership of which entitles
cardholders to receive a discount when purchasing products manufactured by the Belgian FA’s commercial
partners. That is all covered under the slogan: Football ‘fan card’ holder and automatic member of the
Go4Fun Club.

On the basis of the foregoing, can the Commission indicate whether this procedure is in conformity with
Directive 95/46/EC and, in particular, with Articles 6 and 7 thereof? In other words, is the data actually
being used for the purpose for which it was compiled? Alternatively, can data compiled with a view to
ensuring safety at football grounds be used ‘automatically’ (sic) for the compilation of a commercial data
file?

(1) OJ C 110 E, 8.5.2003, p. 165.
(2) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.

C 222 E/242

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(25 April 2003)

On the basis of the information provided by the Honourable Member, the system does not seem to
contradict the provisions of Directive 95/46/CE (1) as regards its use for the purposes of safety at football
grounds and the surveillance of supporters.

As for the use of personal data for the purposes of commercial promotion by the Belgian Football
the Commission would refer to the content of Article 14 of Directive 95/46/EC. This
Association,
provision stipulates that the Member States shall grant the data subject the right to object to the processing
of personal data relating to him which the controller anticipates being processed for the purposes of direct
marketing. Alternatively, the same Article recognises that the data subject has the right to be informed
before personal data are disclosed for the first time to third parties or used on their behalf for the purposes
of direct marketing, as well as the right to object to such disclosures or uses.

The information supplied to the data subjects in the application form for the fan card system seems to be
in line with the content of this provision. The Commission would however point out that the wording
chosen (cid:1) i.e. ‘unless otherwise stated’ (‘sauf disposition contraire’ in French) (cid:1) is not very explicit and that
the data subject should be clearly informed of his right to object to the processing of his personal data for
commercial purposes. The Commission has drawn the attention of the Belgian data protection agency to
this matter.

Insofar as the data subject can effectively object to the use of personal data relating to him for purposes
other than safety at football grounds, the Commission does not consider this to be an ‘automatic’ re-use of
the data.

(1) Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of
individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (cid:1) OJ L 281,
23.11.1995.

(2003/C 222 E/271)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0902/03

by Raffaele Costa (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(17 March 2003)

Subject: Health spending

How much did the Commission spend on health in 2002? How much was spent by State and by
beneficiary (public bodies, companies, individuals)?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2003)

In 2002, the amount spent on the public health programme was EUR 44 936 129 for the operating
appropriations
total of
EUR 46 356 047.

and EUR 1 419 918 for

appropriations, making

administrative

the

a

The Commission does not currently have any statistics on the breakdown of these amounts by Member
State or by type of organisation. In fact, many of the projects are submitted by coordinators of networks
which include organisations of varying status (public and private) based in different Member States. This is
an important aspect of the Community added-value of these projects.

The Honourable Member may wish to consult the following website for a description of each of the eight
programmes and projects on health-related issues:
www.europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_overview/previous_programme/Previous_programme_en.htm.