Strasbourg, 05/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - During a brief exchange of views with the conference of presidents of the European Parliament's political groups, the Council's Secretary General, Javier Solana, stated he was open to dialogue with Parliament on the new rules adopted by the Council for classification of documents relating to European security and defence. EUROPE has reason to believe that, without formally committing himself, Mr Solana showed a certain amount of willingness for a mechanism that would allow a restricted group of MEPs to have access, under certain conditions, to classified documents. He nonetheless also felt that the Council has the law on its side and that it would be in vain for Parliament to try to appeal before the Court of Justice.
After the meeting, President Nicole Fontaine welcomed the fact that the dialogue had begun. German Christian Democrat Hans-Gert Pöttering said he trusts it will be possible to reach a compromise on the proposal for access by a restricted group of MEPs, which has the support of the two main groups and which was already contained in the letter whereby the chairman of the Committee on Public Freedoms, British Liberal Graham Watson, had called on the EP president to refer the matter of possible appeal before the Court to the conference of presidents. Spanish Socialist Enrique Baron welcomed the fact that Mr Solana had given his agreement for seeking a mechanism that will make it possible to guarantee the rights of the Parliament. Concerning citizen access, he stressed that the procedure for adopting a horizontal regulation "is on track". Irish Liberal Pat Cox stressed that real negotiation is needed, and felt that the possibility of going before the Court remains.