WRITTEN QUESTION P-3067/03 by Kathalijne Buitenweg (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Biometric data in visas and passports.
Date: 2003-10-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: admission of aliens, biometrics, data protection, foreign national, harmonisation of standards, passport, personal data, technical specification

20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 70 E/209

Does the Commission consider such employment contract provisions acceptable? What measures will it
take to have the contract invalidated?

(1) OJ L 39, 14.2.1976, p. 40.
(2) OJ L 359, 19.12.1986, p. 56.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(4 December 2003)

The Honourable Member is asking if the Commission considers acceptable a provision in an employment
contract which states that ‘in case of a female employee becoming pregnant, and by the very nature of
evaluation activities, thus prevented from carrying out her duties, her employment contract shall be
suspended with the option of resuming her employment after the end of her maternity leave, subject to
the needs of the service’.

Council Directive 92/85/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the introduction of measures to encourage
improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently
given birth or are breastfeeding (1) requires employers to carry out a risk assessment in respect of activities
liable to involve a risk to pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth or workers who are
breastfeeding. Should the assessment reveal a risk to health and safety, the risk must be removed, the
worker must be transferred to suitable alternative employment or Health and Safety leave must be granted.
During this leave, the employment rights relating to the employment contract, including maintenance of a
payment or an adequate allowance, are maintained. Directive 92/85/EEC also prohibits the dismissal of a
pregnant worker or a worker who has recently given birth or is breastfeeding during the period from the
beginning of the pregnancy to the end of the maternity leave period save in exceptional cases unrelated to
the pregnancy, having given birth or breastfeeding. Furthermore, Council Directive 76/207/EEC of
9 February 1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as
regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions prohibits
discrimination in relation to employment on grounds of sex. It is well established in European Court of
Justice case law that discrimination on grounds of pregnancy is direct discrimination on grounds of sex.

The provision in the employment contract referred to by the Honourable Member would appear to be in
contravention of Directive 92/85/EEC. It may also be contrary to Directive 76/207/EEC. As the ELGA
Greek Farmers’
the
Commission will contact the Greek authorities with a view to obtaining further information in relation
to this issue and will inform the Honourable Member as soon as the information is received.

the Ministry for Agriculture,

Insurance Organisation is

the responsibility of

(1) OJ L 348, 28.11.1992.

(2004/C 70 E/225)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3067/03

by Kathalijne Buitenweg (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

Subject: Biometric data in visas and passports

(14 October 2003)

The European Commission is currently, through various proposals, working on the follow-up to one of the
conclusions of the Thessaloniki European Council of June 2003 which states that ‘a coherent approach is
needed in the EU on biometric identifiers or biometric data which would result in harmonised solutions
for documents for third-country nationals, EU citizens’ passports and information systems (VIS and SIS II)’.
At the same time the European Commission is negotiating with the United States to ensure that the
collection by the American authorities of airline passenger data is consistent with European standards,
i.e. that data are collected for a clearly defined purpose, stored for a limited period and that there is a
possibility of effective redress.

What steps does the Commission plan to take to ensure that it does not become easier for third-country
customs authorities to store on a long-term basis and use as they see fit data, including biometric data,
contained in passports and visas, given that such data is stored on a chip?

C 70 E/210

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2004

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(11 November 2003)

As requested by the Thessaloniki European Council (19 and 20 June 2003), the Commission has prepared,
as a first step, two legislative proposals (1) for Regulations amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1683/95
for visas (2), and amending Council Regulation
of 29 May 1995,
(EC) No 1030/2002 of 13 June 2002 laying down a uniform format for residence permits for third-
country nationals (3). As a second step the Commission will present, in December 2003, a proposal on
biometrics in passports.

laying down a uniform format

The proposals on visa and residence permits intend to require Member States to integrate two biometric
identifiers, the facial image and two fingerprints, which shall be kept on a storage medium in the visa and
in the residence permit for third country nationals in a harmonised way, thus ensuring interoperability.

The Commission considers that prevention of the use of bogus or false identities could best be achieved by
enabling more reliable checking of whether the person who presented a document was identical to the
person to whom the document had been issued. Existing security standards are improved even further by
the integration of two biometric identifiers.

When choosing the most appropriate biometric identifiers,
the ICAO
(International Civil Aviation Organisation), which has taken the lead for the development of international
standards in this respect, has been taken into account. Furthermore, ICAO recommends a contactless
microchip as the most appropriate storage medium.

the results of

the work of

The Commission is devoting particular attention to the protection of personal data. The Commission
recalls that Directive 95/46/EC (4) on data protection applies to the processing of personal data -including
biometric data. In accordance with Article 30 of this Directive, the Commission intends to submit all above
mentioned proposals for consultation to the Working Party composed of national data protection
authorities, set up by Article 29 of the said Directive.

The two existing proposals include a specific obligation to ensure the security of data. There are various
technical approaches to secure the stored information but a definite technical solution will have to be
determined.

The discussions that the Commission is having with the United States about the protection of airline
passenger data are not related to these proposals.

(1) COM(2003) 558 final.
(2) OJ L 164, 14.7.1995.
(3) OJ L 157, 15.6.2002.
(4) Directive 95/46/EC of the 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, OJ L 281, 23.11.1995.

(2004/C 70 E/226)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3071/03

by Lissy Gröner (PSE) to the Commission

(20 October 2003)

Subject: Gender budgeting

In the budget debate held in plenary on 23 September 2003, Commissioner Schreyer spoke about the
overarching introduction of gender budgeting in the EU budget.

1. What tangible measures has the Commission taken to implement the proposals set out in the
Ghilardotti report (A5-0214/2003)?

2. Will gender budgeting be taken into account as early as the 2004 budget?