Brussels, 12/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European network Statewatch notes in a press release that, from now on, the annual report from the European Police Office, Europol, will be published in two versions (and no longer a single version): one sanitised for the public, the other secret, which will be marked "limited" (which means that it is not a classified document).
Commenting on this new development, Tony Bunyan editor of Statewatch, it surprised to see that, in the post-Amsterdam era, the citizens and civil society will have even less information on the work by Europol and the Schengen Information System (SIS). This seems to him "quite extraordinary", given that, since the Amsterdam Treaty entered into force (May 1999), the powers of Europol and the SIS have been enormously increased, or are planned to, increase enormously. However, according to Mr Bunyan, such development requires more, and not less responsibility with regards to the Parliaments and citizens. Mr Bunyan thus regrets that, neither at the national level, nor at the European level, parliamentary committees are responsible for examining in a very detailed manner the programmes and activities of Europol.
The report by Statewatch is available in its entirety at the following address: http: //http://www.statewatch.org/news/2001mar/07accountab.htm