WRITTEN QUESTION E-2609/02

by Bruno Gollnisch (NI) to the Commission

(18 September 2002)

Subject: Checking the identity of airline passengers

Airline passengers on French domestic routes are subject to repeated identity checks. Consequently, passengers travelling from Paris to Lyons, for example, are subject to controls both at check-in and on boarding the aircraft, whereas the identity of passengers travelling from Brussels, Berlin or Madrid is not checked either on departure or on arrival.

Are these checks imposed by the airlines for tariff-related purposes, or are they a security requirement imposed by the French authorities? In either event, does the Commission consider that they are compatible with European rules?

If exceptions to the Schengen rules are being made for security reasons, how does the Commission explain the fact that, paradoxically, these security requirements are stricter on domestic than on international routes?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(15 November 2002)

As the flights concerned are within a Member State, the provisions of the Schengen acquis, which govern the crossing of internal borders between Member States, are not applicable.