Brussels, 11/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, Portuguese Carlos Coelho (EPP/ED), who chairs the temporary committee of the European Parliament on the Echelon Interception System, welcomes the "excellent" exchanges that the delegation of this committee had during its visit to the United States, mainly with members of the Congress and representatives of non-governmental bodies. The delegation did, however, come up against closed doors when it tried to meet representatives of the US Administration. It notes that, despite the "advanced preparations" made, both the State Department and the intelligence agencies, the CIA and NSA, refused to meet the MEPs who hoped to receive an explanation from the American side before finalising their report. "As a result, we are cutting short our visit to Washington and returning to Europe immediately", concluded Mr Coelho.
Nicole Fontaine, EP President, commented: "This absence of dialogue worries me considerably particularly as the aim of the visit was to allow the US government authorities to answer the various allegations in all openness (…). On the other hand, I wish to thank the members of the US Congress (…) The debates between our MEPs and their counterparts showed that the latter have a real determination to rule out no subject from their conversations".