There are many other reasons for swiping your passport when leaving the EU.

In the not-so-far future all data is compared to the data of the German customs. Which is also responsible for the collection procedure of taxes, fines and your social insurance contributions. (EDIT: Especially of you own a company)

This will mean the subsequent measures:

1,) The database is checked whether there are any outstanding balances. If yes the customs can enforce the payment and friendly ask you to be escorted to the cashier's booth. So the Bundespolizei/Border Police shows you the way to customs.


2.) In the long run there is a border regime for immigration and outward journeys. In combination with the not-so-new "anti money laundry" measures the government has a complete insight in the financials of every traveller.

The "erkennungsdienstliche Behandlung" (humiliating taking of fingerprints and an Iris scan) are only the first steps. Population has accepted that and gives willingly even 10 fingerprints just for a holiday in the US.

3.) From approx. 2017 there is no Schengen area or domestic travel anymore. The "carot" which was shown to the citizens in order to accept a European Union (borderless travel without showing government issued artificial IDs) is withdrawn and a high number of new regulations cutting the freedom will remain.


On the way to one single European State the first steps are made. A supranational Police force has been founded:

http://www.eurogendfor.org/

More information on border protection and data collection can be found here:

An official PDF file of the EU called "SECURITY RESEARCH PROJECTS
under the 7th Framework Programme for Research
Investing into security" is a roadmap for new checks and procedures:

ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/s...e2010_2_en.pdf

On page 46 you will find the introduction of "checkpoints" even within a country thus completely destroying the idea of free and unwatched travelling:

"It is clear that transposition of the project results to other types of checkpoints, as for example trains and in particular high speed train (HST/TGV) stations, will be quite easy and it is expected that it will be
carried by some EFFISEC partners interested in providing security solutions.
By the end of the project, EFFISEC prototypes results will need industrial development for massive deployment in mid-term (2014-2020) at land/maritime border check points."

This is completely against the tradition of the former Federal Republic of Germany where no policeman or official could ask you for your ID (which is only an artificially produced compund of plastic, chip and paper) without reason.


So this tiny questions about the purpose of journey have one goal: To familiarize people with being questions asked and anwering in a submissive way.

Not more or less.

Like many other procedures like the tobacco regulation (forbidding a vast array of products) or the future regulation of maximum water usage for toilets (Toilettenrichtlinie).....