In a bid to enhance public protection and provide concrete support for Member States, over the last few months the Commission has been providing technical support and guidance to the Polish Police and Border Guards in training and developing the methodology for the use of mobile chemical and bio detection equipment to scan for explosives and terror weaponry at Polish stadiums and airports.

It is the first time that mobile detection equipment for explosives, chemical and biological threats have been deployed in the EU during such a high profile public event.

“This very first detection trial will provide valuable information for future use of such technology during large public events. With all eyes focusing on the ball, security at stadiums becomes all the more essential. The Euro 2012 must be a celebration where everybody can feel safe,” said Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs.

The use of technologically up-to-date mobile chemical and bio detection units will enhance security arrangements without additional constraints for football fans who will travel to Poland and gather in stadiums to support their teams.

Football fans can be scanned at the entrance of the stadium where usual security and ticket checks are carried out. The detection equipment, in the form of light weight portable electrical devices, will yield a result in real time, indicating whether any threatening substances have been detected or not on the clothes or belongings of the audience.

The result of the deployment of those mobile chemical and bio detection units during the tournament in Poland will provide Member States’ authorities with valuable information about how best to carry out threat-detection exercises in future major public events.

The Commission is expected to launch more practical trials of detection equipment in other areas of public security during the autumn of 2012 and the spring of 2013.