91998E2892

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2892/98

by Susan Waddington (PSE) to the Commission

(15 September 1998)

Subject: Treatment of British passport holders by French border police

At 18.30 on Tuesday 14 July 1998 a British woman, her husband and her four small children, all British passport holders en route to a holiday destination in France, disembarked at Calais and presented their passports to the French authorities.

As a Muslim, the woman in accordance with her faith wears a full veil and cannot show her face to men other than blood relatives. In order to identify the woman the official on duty, a male police officer, requested her to raise her veil. The woman politely declined and whilst trying to explain why (she does not speak French) asked to see a female officer to whom she could show her face.

After repeated requests the French authorities refused to provide a female police officer, declined to communicate in English, did not provide any documentation in English and for 30 minutes did not provide interpretation. Eventually the woman was refused entry into France and returned to the UK by the French authorities. On return her identity was confirmed by a British female customs official.

This unacceptable incident caused the family great distress and, as Union citizens, denied their right to free movement. Unfortunately similar incidents are regularly experienced by EU citizens from ethnic minorities when they travel.

Does the Commission agree that the way in which the woman and her family were treated is unacceptable and an abuse of women's fundamental human rights? What measures is the Commission taking to prevent such incidents and in the future how will it use the new Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty in this vein?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(28 October 1998)

Community legislation on the free movement of EU citizens lays down that Member States must admit citizens of the Union to their territory merely on production of a valid identity card or passport(1).

As Community law stands at present, therefore, Member States are entitled to check the validity of an identity card or passport when a border is crossed. This involves checking that the person to whom the identity card or passport was issued, and whose identity it evidences, is actually the person producing the document at the border.

The Commission considers that, when the direct link between the document and its holder is checked, care must be taken to ensure full respect for fundamental rights and human dignity.

It would also point out that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is amply guaranteed in the Member States, both internally by domestic remedies and externally by the machinery established by the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

(1) See in particular Article3 of Council Directive68/360/EEC of 15 October 1968, OJ L 257, 19.10.1968, and Article 3 of Council Directive73/148/EEC of 21 May 1973, OJ L 172, 28.6.1973.