EUROPEAN UNION: COMPROMISE IN SIGHT OVER MEPS' ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS.

The current draft IIA, which was proposed in the compromise concluded in April 2001, would permit Parliament under certain conditions to consult documents classified as "secret", "top secret" or "confidential" and originating from Common Foreign and Security Policy or judicial and police co-operation on criminal cases, which Regulation 1049/2001 recognises cannot be released to the general public. These documents might be consulted on request by the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee or its Committee on Civil Liberties, as well as by the four MEPs designated by the Conference of Presidents and approved by the Council Presidency and the High Representative for CFSP. This consultation would be purely informal and would exclude all communication beyond these specified individuals.However, the French and British delegations are continuing to insist that authorisation for consultation should not be the sole preserve of the Presidency or High Representative, but also of the Member States that produced the classified document at issue. The Belgian delegation, supported by France, has moreover called on Parliament, prior to the entry into force of the IIA, to amend its security Regulation, adding that these modifications should require the endorsement of the Council. Ramon de...