Proposition 50K2226

Projet de loi modifiant la loi du 8 août 1983 organisant un Registre national des personnes physiques et la loi du 19 juillet 1991 relative aux registres de la population et aux cartes d'identité et modifiant la loi du 8 août 1983 organisant un Registre national des personnes physiques.

General information ¶

Submitted by

Groen Open Vld Vooruit PS | SP Ecolo MR Verhofstadt Ⅰ

Submission date

Jan. 15, 2003

Official page

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Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

civil status identity document

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen Ecolo PS | SP Open Vld MR

Abstained from voting

CD&V LE N-VA FN VB

Party dissidents ¶

• Ferdy Willems (N-VA) voted to adopt.
• Vincent Decroly (Ecolo) abstained from voting.
• Richard Fournaux (MR) abstained from voting.

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

Feb. 19, 2003 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker. The vote on the entire text took place on 4 February 2003.

In his introductory presentation, the Minister of the Interior clarified the following different elements.

The bill enters the framework of e-government and administrative simplification with three underlying ideas: - the correct transmission of data; - the provision of services to citizens - the confidentiality of data related to privacy.

This project focuses on these three areas. The Minister said that the current procedure for obtaining access to information from the national register, the communication of such information or the use of the identification number of the national register has proven to be very time-consuming and can take about two years. Therefore, it appeared necessary for the government to simplify this procedure and speed it up, without, however, forgetting the main concern of the legislator when drawing up the reference legislation, namely to ensure the optimal protection of the privacy of individuals. Therefore, a new, more appropriate procedure has been developed in the first chapter of the draft law.

Privacy protection has also been improved. For this purpose, a sectoral committee of the National Register is established, which is under the responsibility of the Privacy Protection Commission. This sectoral committee consists of three members of the committee and three external members designated by the Chamber of Representatives. This committee will thus grant the authorisation to access or obtain communication of the information of the national register and the authorisation to use the identification number of the national register.

Furthermore, any public authority or public or private body that has obtained access to information, the communication of information or the use to use the identification number of the national register shall be required to designate, within or outside its staff, a consultant on information security and privacy protection.

In addition, a register listing all permits for access to the national register will be kept with the Privacy Protection Commission. This register will be accessible to everyone.

The second point of the introductory explanation concerns the modification of the law of 19 July 1991 on the population register and identity cards. The idea is to adapt this text to transform the current identity card into an electronic identity card. For the Minister, this new identity card constitutes the central point of e-government. The various developments in terms of accessibility of citizens to municipal and federal administrations require, indeed, a reliable identification system.

The electronic identity card will contain visible data corresponding to the data of the current identity card; with the exception of the address but, with the addition of the identification number to the national register. It will also contain electronically readable data, identical to the visible data, but with the addition of the address, certificates, more specifically, the identity certificate and the signature certificate.

As for the costs of implementing the project, the Minister of the Interior specified that the Council of Ministers of 19 July 2001 granted the necessary financial resources to the 2001 budget by inserting a credit of 10.500.000 euros into the ICT budget of the Minister of Modernization of the Administration for the implementation of the project from the end of 2001 in eleven pilot communes and in the national register.

The provision of resources for the widespread implementation of the electronic card constitutes an investment cost for the remaining 578 municipalities and for the continued modernisation of the national register during the 2002 financial year and the subsequent financial years. All this has been studied as part of the preparation of future budgets.

During the general discussion, Mr. André Frédéric signed his agreement on the substance of the bill, which, according to him, is part of a technological evolution. Therefore, provided that all guarantees are given regarding the confidentiality of the information contained on the ID card, the member stated to support the planned innovations. However, in his capacity as a municipalist, he stated that he was concerned that some provisions of the project would result in additional costs for local authorities.

Thus, Mr. Frédéric recalls that Article 8 provides for the appointment of a consultant in information security and privacy protection, who fulfils, among other things, the function of the Data Protection Officer. For the interviewer, this designation will inevitably entail an extra cost.

In addition, Mr. Frédéric notes that this bill provides for the renewal of identity cards every five years. Currently, renewal takes place every ten years. As a result, for the speaker, the work of community employees will necessarily increase. Despite the fact that the draft law has only limited experience, Mr. Frédéric wants to obtain the guarantee that the federal state will bear the surplus costs inherent in this bill. by Mr. Jan Peeters shares the vision of the previous speaker. For him, the introduction of the electronic identity card is a positive measure, both for public authorities and for citizens. In essence, he is therefore in favour of this bill that allows for better efficiency of public authorities with, of course, greater transparency. In the long run, it will probably lead to an economy at different levels of power. For the intervener, the introduction of the new system risks to result in an undeniable increase in costs for the municipalities. It therefore insists that guarantees are given for the federal state to bear the said surplus costs. With these guarantees, he will be able to vote on the text.

by Mr. André Smets shares the objectives of this bill as well as the concerns of the two previous speakers. It calls for an analysis of the costs that this bill will entail to be made. Furthermore, it generally believes that every time a decision is made, an accurate cost analysis would be necessary.

In response to these considerations, the Interior Minister said he was not surprised by the concern expressed about the cost of this reform. He then took the initiative to get in touch with his government colleagues. These, and especially his colleague of Public Service and Administration Modernization, argued that the federal state could not commit to covering the extra costs inherent in the bill. In this context, the Minister made the following proposal:

The bill is very important for the implementation of a pilot experiment whose entire costs are covered. It is in the light of this experience that some lessons can be learned, including the cost.

He therefore announced the deposit of an amendment, providing that the decision to proceed with the generalized introduction of the electronic identity card will be taken by royal decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers.

The Minister of the Interior also recalled that the new system will enable the realization of savings. In the specialized literature, e-government experts number the cost reduction for municipalities through the use of the electronic identity card to 6% of the total wage mass. These figures are confirmed by the Minister, by a study of the Dutch authorities on e-government in the Netherlands. This is also true with regard to the savings to be expected from the deletion of the card holder’s address. It is recalled that 10% of citizens move at least once a year with the costs and formalities that this entails at the municipal level.

For the Minister, it is also inaccurate to claim that the reduction by half of the validity period of identity cards will double the number of people who will have to take care of the issuance of these documents, within a municipal administration. One can actually think that the municipal officials who currently deal with cards do not all devote 100% of their working time to the issuance of these documents. Accelerated card renewal is also essential for obvious security reasons. by

Finally, for the Minister, we cannot lose sight of the synergies and savings created through the introduction of the new map, and for which I refer to my written report.

The Minister also notes that the bill provides that public authorities designate a consultant within or outside their staff. It is therefore perfectly possible, for example for a small municipality, to entrust this task to an existing staff member. In the current state of affairs and under the law of 8 December 1992 on the protection of private life, municipalities are already obliged to designate a supervisor for the protection of private life.

It will also be able to easily assume the new tasks under this law.

On the same day on January 29th, your committee examined and voted this text article by article.

by Mr. Paul Tant asked the Minister about a number of punctual aspects for which I refer you to my written report.

The committee then decided on the amendment submitted by Mrs Pelzer-Salandra et consorts, relating to the problem of the generalization of electronic identity cards. This amendment provides that the decision to proceed with the generalized introduction of the electronic identity card will be taken by royal decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers, after an assessment by the Council of Ministers and the competent committee of the Chamber. This amendment was voted by 10 votes against 2 abstentions.

The entire draft as amended was adopted, on 4 February 2003, by 9 votes and 3 abstentions.

This is the conclusion of my report, Mr. Speaker.

If you allow me to do so, I will briefly conclude with my speech.

Mr. Minister, my colleagues, you just got an overview of the discussion that focused in commission on the budgetary contours of this reform. It may be to hide the true interests of this new system.

I recall that the identity card should be considered as the true cornerstone of e-government. Without it, the modernization of the relations between the citizens and the municipal and federal administrations would be without much of its effectiveness.

The main thing is, of course, for the authority, to be able to identify its interlocutor online. Different solutions could have been conceived, but it must be acknowledged that only the smart ID card offers the most guarantees. From there, the potential outlets are almost endless and, at first, we will take advantage of this new technology to communicate its change of address, or even to obtain administrative documents such as, in particular, a certificate of good life and morals, and follow the evolution of urban planning procedures. In the end, synergies could appear between this card and the bank card.

Thus, one can, for example, obtain and pay at the same time his certificate of good life and morals.

However, two concerns must be met.

First of all, safety. This is a very sensitive issue because it is about privacy. We cannot be too vigilant. I believe that the project offers all the guarantees regarding this point. I will not come back.

Second, the development of new technologies in municipal administrations. The identity card is an important step but it has little reason to be if the municipalities do not make the necessary efforts to develop a technological environment worthy of that name. In order to do this, I think that financial incentives will need to be imagined. It must be measured that modernization now presents a risk for municipalities. I think about developing a successful website. But who can say what will happen tomorrow? Will the citizens really take the step? I think that this risk must be offset and that the solutions remain to be imagined in this area, although it is true that part of these means will naturally not result from the simple establishment of synergies induced by the electronic identity card.

To conclude, I will briefly return to the strictly budgetary aspect. It seems to me that at this level, a small misunderstanding has arisen during the committee work. Two elements should not be confused. First of all, there is this bill that regulates the technical arrangements relating to the electronic identity card, i.e. the data that will appear on the new tool and on how to guarantee its inviolability. The national register is also treated in this perspective, but there is, in addition, a decision of the Council of Ministers concerning the introduction of the new card in eleven pilot communes. In this case, budget neutrality will be ensured for the municipalities. This neutrality proceeds from the same decision of the Council, based on the fact that they are voluntary communes of which it is understood that they, of course, do not have to bear a specific burden on this innovation.

However, nothing has yet been decided as to the costs associated with a possible generalization of the system, notwithstanding the amendment co-signed by most political parties. The final decision is left to the executive. From now on, it is planned that in the Council of Ministers, a decision must be based on the conclusions of the Assessment by the Chamber of Representatives of the pilot experiment. It is understood that this evaluation will address the budgetary component of the reform and set out what it will conceive as the maximum implication for municipal finances, charged with the government to respect these parliamentary considerations. The Reform Group supports this formula which has gathered a quasiconsensus in committee. He also strongly supports the entire project.

Thank you for your report and for starting the general discussion, since you were the first speaker.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ministers, Mr. Colleagues, the present bill consists of two parts, namely the regulation of the national register, on the one hand, and the electronic identity card, on the other.

In the amendments made to the legislation on the use of the national register number, we welcome the fact that we have sought a good balance between a simplified, less cumbersome and less time-consuming procedure, on the one hand, and the protection of privacy, on the other hand, which is obviously essential for our party.

A second part of this draft is intended to establish the legislative framework for the introduction of the electronic identity card. This identity card, together with the electronic signature, is therefore the cornerstone in the realization of egovernment in which the citizen will be able to communicate with the government via computer and through this way also obtains his services from the government. This will, of course, result in less administrative burden as communication with the government is conducted in a more efficient way. This draft could therefore be an essential step in the pursuit of administrative simplification and could potentially also result in cost savings for both public authorities and citizens.

Since we see this bill as an important step towards a modern, customer-focused government and this can also lead to administrative simplification and more efficient governance, we fully support the draft. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ministers, dear colleagues, I thank you for your attention.

First of all, I would like to congratulate the author on the excellent report we have heard. I would like to speak briefly to highlight the importance of this project, which will reduce the formalities for consulting the national register, while taking the necessary precautions to ensure the protection of data, and in particular the protection of privacy. The project provides for the introduction of the electronic identity card, in order to simplify the life of citizens, who will need less to move, less to go in line, less to request or request documents. The latter will also be able, using this electronic identity card, to open all the devices of the e-government and directly access a number of information. They will not even have to move again when they change home. I also add that the purpose of this ID card is to allow, in the same way, to carry out a number of transactions since the signature will be authenticated, which will also avoid travel. by

That said, I have been attentive to the concerns expressed by the representatives of the municipalities. And as Ms. De Permentier pointed out, the neutrality of the operation has been ensured with regard to the pilot experiment that will be tried in eleven municipalities and from which a number of lessons will be drawn. I have also submitted an amendment to involve Parliament in the assessment, and in the Council of Ministers deliberation before the generalization of the introduction of this electronic identity card, we will ensure that municipalities do not incur additional costs. by

If, at the end of the evaluation, it should appear that there remains an inadmissible surplus cost for the municipalities, it was agreed within the government that the necessary resources should be provided during the budget discussions. However, I am not convinced that this will be necessary. Indeed, as I pointed out in the committee, the introduction of this electronic identity card should allow for cost reduction, ⁇ at the municipal level. However, I understand the concern of the municipalists, Mr. President.