Proposition 54K3574

Logo (Chamber of representatives)

Projet de loi portant modification de la loi du 21 décembre 2013 portant le Code consulaire et de la loi du 10 février 2015 relative aux traitements automatisés de données à caractère personnel nécessaires aux passeports et titres de voyage belges.

General information

Authors
CD&V Vincent Van Peteghem
MR Kattrin Jadin
Open Vld Tim Vandenput
Submission date
Feb. 20, 2019
Official page
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Subjects
fraud border control identity document official document passport police checks

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Discussion

March 28, 2019 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source


President Siegfried Bracke

Mr Miller, the rapporteur, refers to the written report.


Kattrin Jadin MR

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, dear colleagues, in the prelude to my speech, I would like to clarify that, during our work in the Committee on Foreign Relations, we have already long recalled the content of the two opinions received on this bill: the one issued by the State Council on 25 May 2018 and the one of the Data Protection Authority, issued on 8 August 2018.

I would also like to remind you that the legislator has taken this into account and that corrections have been made to the basic text. I will not return therefore. I would like to focus on the concrete steps brought by this proposal. Through it, my colleagues Tim Vandenput, Vincent Van Peteghem and myself, we propose four amendments to the Consular Code.

The first is the legalization of foreign documents. There are increasing problems with "true fake" documents for which the signature and signatory capacity pose no problem but whose content is not consistent with reality. Today, it is not possible to refuse the document later when its content is problematic. The amendment therefore aims to allow this refusal in the event of serious doubts about the authenticity of the content. The Belgian authority may request an investigation on this issue.

Second, the grounds for refusing and withdrawing identity cards are not consistent with those for passports and travel documents. The proposed amendment therefore aims to conform.

Thirdly, the provisions introduced by the Act of 10 August 2015 already amending the Consular Code, such as those relating to the refusal of passport, were not fully compatible with the procedures applied by the judicial authorities and the security services. The amendment I present to you improves the compatibility, efficiency and cooperation between the Consular Code, the judicial authorities and the security services of our country.

Fourth, in its opinion of 20 June 2018, the Council of State recommends a better framework for the processing of personal data necessary for Belgian passports and travel documents.

We therefore propose to provide a legal framework for the automated processing of data in the Passban database. Specifically, and taking into account the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), therefore an article is inserted providing that certain personal data from existing identity fraud records can be used as part of training on identity fraud. On the other hand, and this is a point that is worth pointing out, strictly personal data such as surname or place of birth will not be used.

I would like to remind you that our consular network fulfils essential tasks to protect our nationals abroad, as well as administrative tasks such as issuing identity documents and passports and issuing visas.

The consulate also carries out security tasks. It can, for example, assist our citizens in the event of difficulties with local authorities in certain countries. Should we remember the importance of this role in certain regions of the world? These people are also at the service of our fellow citizens abroad and are in the forefront to provide them with help and comfort in case of an emergency.

The modernization of the Consular Code is essential in order to further improve this service, this proximity and, above all, this efficiency. It is in this idea that I propose you to support these amendments to the Consular Code.