Brussels, 07/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - With discussion in full swing on increasing the use of body scanners in European airports, the European Parliament has decided to put six such machines, bought just after the 11 September terrorist attacks in New York, up for sale. A call for offers will be put out for the six scanners, which cost a total of €725,730 and are housed at the Parliament buildings in Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg, said Parliament Secretary General Klaus Welle in a letter to German MEP Markus Farber (EPP). The call will be published in the Official Journal of the EU of 15 January. Potential purchasers will have until 6 February to submit bids. It was only in December 2008 that the existence of these scanners was revealed. To date, they have never been used.
Elsewhere, while expressing reservations over the widespread use of body scanners, Spanish Transport Minister José Blanco López said in Madrid on Thursday that EU member states should agree a common position on their use in airports. The issue will be discussed at the end of February at the joint transport and home affairs ministers' meeting. (B.C./transl.rt)