The deadline for tabling amendments to the legislation on artificial intelligence was Wednesday 7 June. As Parliament prepares to adopt its position for future inter-institutional negotiations at its plenary session on 14 June, the issue of remote biometric identification continues to divide the political groups.
In detail, the EPP group has long opposed the ban on real-time biometric identification during negotiations within the European Parliament. A separate vote was held on this issue during the European Parliament committee vote on 11 May (see EUROPE 13180/1). The majority group in the European Parliament did not manage to find a majority on the subject and the ban on this practice was then confirmed.
However, MEPs had reached a compromise aimed at authorising the use of remote biometric identification a posteriori, with the authorisation of the courts, to enable the authorities to investigate.
New amendments have been tabled by the group chaired by Manfred Weber, calling for a return to the original text. This provided for real-time biometric identification to be authorised in exceptional circumstances, such as the search for a missing person, locating a suspect in a serious crime or preventing a terrorist threat.
The EPP’s position on this issue has prompted reactions from some MEPs who oppose it, such as Patrick Breyer (Greens/EFA, German). “The court order requirement, as proposed by the hard-line Conservatives, is a mere formality, a smokescreen for mass surveillance”, he said.
“The ‘exceptions’ to the ban they propose would in fact justify the widespread deployment of facial surveillance technologies to search for thousands of ‘victims’, ‘threats’ and ‘serious crime’ suspects who are wanted at any time. We must not normalise a culture of mistrust and side with authoritarian regimes that use AI to repress civil society”, he added.
MEPs from S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left have also tabled an amendment calling for an additional ban on automated behavioural surveillance in public spaces.
Amendments have also been tabled on a number of other important subjects, such as high-risk AI systems and prohibited practices. On this last point, The Left Group would like to see the list of prohibited practices extended to emotional recognition and predictive policing applications.
Some MEPs, such as Mr Breyer, are also calling for an outright ban on all applications designed to monitor, detect and analyse the behaviour of citizens in the public space. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)