More measures courtesy of the High Cabal. > Paris, Saturday, August 26, 2000 > Political Uproar Expected Over New EU Secrecy Code > http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/SAT/FPAGE/rule.2.html > > By Barry James > International Herald Tribune > > PARIS - European Union governments have quietly adopted new secrecy rules > that limit the public's right to know what EU officials are doing on a wide > range of military and civilian matters. > The rules, adopted in an unpublicized written procedure in Brussels while > the European Parliament was on vacation, are likely to cause a political > uproar when the Parliament returns next month, political observers said, > particularly because Parliament is currently attempting to increase rather > than decrease openness on EU matters. > > The rules were adopted by European ambassadors to the EU in Brussels at the > request of Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for foreign and > security affairs. They impose the same kind of secrecy on various European > matters as the military secrecy directives employed by the North Atlantic > Treaty Organization, where Mr. Solana was secretary-general until last year. > > According to the new rules, information may be withheld from Europeans on a > wide range of security issues, among them: ''public security, the security > and defense of the Union or one of its member states, military or > nonmilitary crisis management, international relations, monetary stability, > court proceedings, inspections and investigations.'' > > The new rules are so restrictive that the fact that certain classified > documents exist will not be revealed. > > A spokesman at the European Council Secretariat, which is headed by Mr. > Solana, declined to speculate on how much information would actually be > concealed but said that the restrictions would probably be limited to > operational details about EU military or nonmilitary engagements in places > like the Balkans. > > However, officials said that even low-level information would be classified > if it concerned a non-EU country, and would be released only if that > country's government gave written permission. > > Tony Bunyan, of a civil rights monitoring group called Statewatch, said the > secrecy rules would also apply to such issues as immigration and drugs. The > officials responsible for policies will also be responsible for classifying > them, he added. > > The European ombudsman, Jacob Sodeman, who has campaigned for greater > transparency in the EU, attacked the new secrecy code as unnecessary, saying > it was a mistake to bracket together military and nonmilitary issues. In an > interview this month with the newspaper Aamulehti in Tampere, Finland, he > said that Mr. Solana's appointment had been a ''serious mistake.'' > > Under a code of practice adopted in 1993, citizens of EU countries have been > able to request any EU document, and EU institutions were obliged to justify > refusals on a case-by-case basis. This has now been amended. > > Last year, the EU received 6,700 requests for documents, mostly from > lawyers, academics and journalists, and refused access on about 900 > occasions, many of which resulted in appeals to the ombudsman. > > In response to the new rules, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands > issued a joint statement this month saying they believed that documents > could be kept confidential without depriving citizens of the right to know > what material is available. > > Hans Verploeg, general-secretary of the Netherlands Association of > Journalists, described the adoption of the new secrecy code as a ''military > coup - so clever in the middle of summertime.'' He pointed out that the new > rules in Brussels contrasted with the situation in his country, which has a > U.S.-style Freedom of Information act. > > So far as confidential EU information is concerned, he said, the > Netherlands, which boasts an open style of government like the Nordic > countries, will now have to conform to the more closed standards of the rest > of Europe. > > The new rules were a particular blow for Finland, which at the Helsinki > summit meeting in December obtained the agreement of other countries to a > public register of documents, including restricted information. > > All top-secret, secret and confidential EU documents will now be excluded > from public records, along with any other material mentioning the existence > of restricted documents. > > ''Just imagine we were putting together a strategy for an EU defense against > an attack by Libya,'' said an official at the EU Council Secretariat headed > by Mr. Solana. > > ''You wouldn't want people even to know you were dealing with that kind of > information,'' the official said. ''And you can imagine hundreds of > situations like that.'' > > EU sources said that Mr. Solana was seriously concerned about the level of > security at the council secretariat in Brussels, which was not designed with > the EU's embryonic military and security role in mind. > > The sources said Mr. Solana realized that he would never gain the > cooperation of other partners such as the United States or NATO, unless the > EU's security was at least as good as theirs. > > Under the rules in the Nordic countries, similar to those being proposed in > Parliament for the EU as a whole, citizens at least know what documents are > available and can go to court to appeal for their release. People like Heidi > Hautala, a member of the Greens Party, have used that law in Finland to pry > open details about the trade in weapons. > > As a member of the Legal Affairs committee at Parliament, Ms. Hautala has > participated in the negotiations to increase openness in the EU. She said > the council had given no warning that it intended to change the rules and > asserted in an interview that Mr. Solana had carried out ''a well-planned > act of bad faith after everyone had left Brussels.'' > > ''This tendency is leaning toward more and more secrecy in all fields of > security, even where there is nothing to hide,'' she added. > > > > >
