Brussels, 25/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 24 June, the EU Council of Ministers gave the go-ahead to the European Commission to prepare harmonised rules for the use of body-scanners in European airports. The Commission's uniform rules would cover technical areas (detection standards), legal issues (protecting privacy and data storage matters) and healthcare (type of rays used). Quizzed about the matter as he left the Transport Council, EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas, who had submitted a Commission assessment to the ministers (see EUROPE 10160), announced that draft legislation might be unveiled before the end of the year. Kallas pointed out that there were varying levels of enthusiasm about the introduction of body-scanners, adding that he had himself pointed out on several occasions that body-scanners were no panacea. He told reporters that he was looking for solutions and that the performance of body-scanners depended on the technology used. The member states are split amongst countries encouraging the use of body-scanners (basically the countries already using them on trial - France, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and Finland) and which, like France, want body-scanners to be widely used for controlling people in the future (which would not be possible without EU legislation) and other countries that do not oppose the technology as such but, like Germany and the Czech Republic, want a detailed debate on how body-scanners should be used. (A.By./transl.fl)