Brussels, 31/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - Gerd Leers, Home Minister of the Netherlands, replied on 27 January to the letter that the Commission had sent to him last November on the subject of the government's project to set up a video-surveillance system on the roads linking Belgium to Germany. The proposal is to check the registration of certain vehicles with a view to curtailing illegal immigration and illegal residence in the Netherlands.
The project should be fully operational by summer 2012, the minister said, but the Netherlands launched a test phase in January and cameras are already set up at 10 points, he added. The 15 cameras needed for the project will all be in place by 31 May, in an area within 20 km of the border.
The Commission and neighbouring countries will be kept informed throughout the period, Leers explained. In November, the Commission had said it wished to obtain more details about the system in order to study its conformity with the Schengen border code rules. It also wishes to examine compliance with European data protection standards. In his letter, the minster answers these points one at a time, citing the legal base used - a 2000 decree entitled “Aliens” which establishes the rules and arrangements for police controls. The latter are also subject to the Policy Data Act, the minister said. The Netherlands pledges that no information of a kind that will identify a person will be retained. Only information that has a connection with the specific suspect vehicles will be kept. The minister also promises that the system will be targeted and conceived in a way that will not be troublesome to travellers for no reason. The Commission will now study this response in detail, said a spokesman for Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, to see whether further action is necessary. (SP/transl.jl)