Euros Want Liquid Ban On Flights Ended

Members of the European Parliament (MEP) are calling on the European Commission and the U.S. government to lift the liquids ban.

With harsh language, Georg Jarzembowski, MEP from Germany and a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism, claimed the liquid ban does nothing to enhance security. It only regulates the "number of milliliters" carried on board and is a "costly nuisance," Jarzembowski said in Washington today at the European Institute.

Jarzembowski noted that European officials say new X-Ray technologies will be in place by next year that will be able to detect explosives in liquids more effectively than current technologies. He questioned whether the machines will be developed and deployed in time to "get rid of these controls that make no sense."

In the meantime, Jarzembowski urged lawmakers to drop the "stupid" regulations banning liquids.

Defending the regulations, Michael Scardaville, the U.S. Homeland Security Dept.'s acting director of European and multilateral affairs, said the ban is "something DHS continues to view as essential." DHS takes a risk-based approach to threats, and it continues to think the liquids ban is necessary for security. "Multiple terrorist organizations are still using liquid explosives," he said, pointing to a recent thwarted attempt in Germany.

Speaking to Jarzembowski's point about the number of milliliters regulated by the ban, security officials on both sides of the Atlantic believe there is minimum volume of liquid necessary to conceal explosives, and the ban effectively regulates this, Scardaville said.

When officials on both sides of the Atlantic feel that technology can more effectively screen for explosives in liquid, the ban will be lifted, Scardaville said, although he did not suggest a timeline for this to occur.

Photo credit: TSA