Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-05-Speech-3-144"
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"en.20000705.4.3-144"2
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"On 8 June 2000, the Conference of Presidents of Parliament adopted the framework agreement between Parliament and the Commission. The vote on this issue will be held during the July part-session, but Members of Parliament will not be given the opportunity to discuss it or to table any amendments.
Without any more detailed examination or discussion within the groups, the group chairmen have adopted this framework agreement which transfers the power of decision over which documents Parliament shall have access to the Commission. This means that the elected representatives will not obtain any real insight into the legislative proceedings, but will be left in the background or on the sidelines.
The group chairmen unanimously requested the Commission to grant the Members of Parliament the legal right of access to the documents which are issued in other connections. On 8 June, however, they accepted that Mr Prodi would not fulfil all the promises he made when he took office.
As Members of Parliament, we ought to have the legal right to complete information.
Of course, there may be justifiable exceptions that must be respected. There is no doubt that the Commission, as an executive body, is fully within its rights to investigate different points of view and prepare drafts in the form of internal working documents without the obligation to publish them. However, it ought to be beyond all doubt that, at the same time as a document is given to someone outside the Commission, Parliament should have the right to the same information.
If a newspaper publishes material from documents that have been leaked, Members of Parliament cannot get access to the documents in question. Trainees at the Council of Ministers or at the offices of the Permanent Representations of the Member States have access to documents which Members of Parliament have no opportunity to consult, not even the committee and group chairmen or the rapporteurs.
When Romano Prodi visited Parliament last spring to introduce himself before the present Commission was installed in office, he promised that Members of Parliament would have access to documents if they were passed on to authorities or organisations outside the Commission or leaked to the media.
Because the framework agreement involves certain improvements upon current practice, it should not be rejected in its entirety. It should, however, at least contain the promises Mr Prodi made on behalf of the Commission.
The closed door policy is unacceptable to the public, the elected representatives and journalists alike. Members of Parliament must fight for their rights as elected representatives."@en1
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