EU puts off reply to US request for airport body scanners

TOLEDO, Spain, Jan 21, 2010 (AFP) - EU interior ministers Thursday put off a reply to a US request that Europe install body scanners at its airports until studies into their possible harmful effects on health and privacy are completed.

Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said the European Commission was carrying out studies into the devices' effectiveness and possible impacts on health and privacy.


"Once we have these studies on the table we will make a decision," he told a news conference with US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano following talks with interior ministers from across the 27-nation bloc in Toledo.


by Cyril Julien
(c) 2010 AFP