Protest as citizens turned away from public meetings

Date: 04/04/02

By Laurence Frost

EU CITIZENS are being barred from so-called 'public' hearings in the European Parliament because of the security clampdown since 11 September, according to complaints received by the institution.

The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) launched a formal protest after guests of the organisation were turned away from environment committee sessions by security staff who told them that access was 'by invitation only'.

Both Parliament President Pat Cox and environment committee chairwoman Caroline Jackson have received letters of complaint from John Hontelez, the EEB's secretary-general, who called the measures 'a serious violation of the golden rule that parliaments meet in public'.

'It's a scandal,' Hontelez said. 'The Parliament's mandate is based on the trust of Europe's citizens. Alienating those citizens who have a concrete interest in how the Parliament is using this mandate is risky and wrong.'

The EEB chief said the organisation's interns and visitors had been 'told that they can get in by invitation only'.

The guests were told to telephone the committee secretariat, which often either failed to answer or refused to supply the required invitation and escort.

Cox's spokesman David Harley defended the invitation-only policy, introduced in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the US.

'There are so many people coming into our buildings, we have to have a minimum level of accompaniment,' he said. 'We can't provide a tailor-made visit of all the premises to every individual making that request.'

But Harley said the rules would be re-examined in the light of the complaints.

'We're going to review the position on this particular aspect,' he said. 'The European Parliament continues to attach enormous importance to opening up its proceedings to the wider public.'

The Parliament's buildings in Strasbourg and Brussels receive more than 500,000 visits by EU citizens every year.

EU citizens are finding themselves unable to attend so-called 'public' hearings in the European Parliament because of the security clampdown since 11 September, according to complaints received by the institution.