The aim of the consultation exercise is to gauge reactions to RFID by both businesses and citizens in Europe. Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner behind the exercise, warned that wider use of RFID would not be allowed to undermine the fundamental liberties that European citizens enjoy.

According to Vint Cerf, one of the “founding fathers [...]]]> From the BBC:

The aim of the consultation exercise is to gauge reactions to RFID by both businesses and citizens in Europe.
Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner behind the exercise, warned that wider use of RFID would not be allowed to undermine the fundamental liberties that European citizens enjoy.

According to Vint Cerf, one of the “founding fathers of the Internet” and Google’s “Chief Internet Evangelist“,

“RFID could solve the mystery of missing socks and that’s a very important contribution to society,” said Mr Cerf.
As a more serious example, Mr Cerf said RFID tags could be used in hospitals to label medicines to ensure that drugs were used before they expired and, in conjunction with tags worn by patients, could make sure the right treatment was administered.

Regarding privacy issues:

Malcolm Crompton, former federal privacy commissioner for Australia and now a consultant on RFID issues, said it was important that safeguards for personal data were built into any laws governing the use of the tags. [...]
For instance, said Mr Crompton, standards could mandate the use of RFID in the form of a tag that a person could snap in half so that it could no longer pass on information.