Watchdog attacks time-limit for public gallery

Date: 28/03/02

By Martin Banks

CONVENTION officials are under fire from a citizens' watchdog after severely limiting the amount of time members of the public could attended last week's debate.

The two-day meeting was switched from the European Parliament's 750-seat hemicycle to a smaller meeting room to create a more 'intimate' atmosphere for delegates, it has been claimed.

But that meant only 50 seats were left for the public, according to the European Citizens Active Service (ECAS), and officials were forced to insist on a 45-minute time limit for people wishing to watch the proceedings from the public gallery.

The group, which monitors the Convention for NGOs, is calling on Convention officials to scrap 'time quotas' and treat visitors with more respect in future.

ECAS director Tony Venables said the attitude shown towards the public was particularly ironic as the 105-member forum is supposed to be finding ways to 'reconnect' the EU with citizens.

He levelled a series of questions at the Convention secretariat and its officials:

'Is the idea behind making merely 50 seats available to the public that the Convention is not of interest to the man on the street?

'Is it correct to expel people who may have had to travel a considerable distance?

'Why were the texts of the Convention - clearly visible below in the meeting room - not automatically made available to the public?

'Why was the public totally sealed off with no possibility of contacting Convention members from their country?

'And why were people not treated with a modicum of respect and made to feel unwelcome?'

He continued: 'The response to my criticism has been that Convention documents are available on the internet but, as anyone who has ever attended a public meeting knows, there is no substitute for being there and seeing the Convention for yourself.

'But at the moment the Convention seems to be far less open to the public than European Parliament meetings or even the last Convention on the Charter of Fundamental Rights.'

Convention spokesman Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut blamed Parliamentary officials for limiting the time available for the public to watch the debate. 'I understand the meeting was moved from the Parliament's larger hemicycle to a smaller room to create a more intimate atmosphere.

'This, unfortunately, meant there was less space available but the public were still able to watch proceedings live on a giant screen in another meeting room.'

• The 13th member of the Convention praesidium, who will come from the candidate countries, is expected to be chosen at the forum's next meeting on 15 April. Deadline for applications is 4 April.

The European Citizens Active Service (ECAS) has criticised European Convention officials for severely limiting the amount of time members of the public could attend a recent debate.