Justice and Fundamental Rights Commissioner Viviane Reding described as ''positive'' the fact that Paris had sent the information required by the Commission ''very late'' at night on Friday.
''I think this is a positive move: France has answered our ultimatum,'' Reding told French news agency AFP (see 'Background').
However, the Commission did not make any statements as to the substance of the information provided.
Commission spokesperson Olivier Bailly explained that the case with France had two dimensions. The first was the alignment of its legislation with EU law, on which Paris had until 15 October to make its intentions clear.
The second dimension, however, was whether the expulsion policy was targeted at the Roma minority, amounting to discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity.
On this aspect, he said there was no deadline, meaning France is still being threatened with a legal procedure.
Ten days ago, another scandal erupted following the disclosure by French daily Le Monde of a gendarmerie database called Mens, which tracks "non-sedentary ethnic minorities".
The French state commission for data processing and liberties (Cnil) said it had investigated a complaint by four NGOs about the ''illegal'' use of ethnic files.
''There is no Mens file specifically identified,'' Cnil stated, even though it said ''the name Mens has been in common use in the gendarmerie services since 1992''.
Although Cnil states that there was no ''structured database gathering personal data relative to the Roma,'' it admits that ''some of the information registered'' by the gendarmerie reveal ''the ethnic origins of the persons controlled''.
