Brussels, 18/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - Sixty or so journalists were trapped for twenty minutes or so on Friday in the entrance of the Berlaymont Building in Brussels, where the European Commissioners and Directors General are based, during the Commission's weekly press conference. After the bag-scanning machine and gateway broke down, security chiefs at the building refused to let the reporters in despite the fact they were all accredited with the official cards. The reporters missed most of the press conference. Asked about the recurring problems, Commission spokeswoman Françoise Le Bail said that despite 'archaeological' research, she had not been able to find out who was responsible for security rules which she herself described as 'absurd' (the European Commission is supposed to be responsible for what goes on under its own roof). The security scanning gateway and x-rays for access to the press room (which reporters have to pass even if the speaker whose security might be at risk is not actually present) were introduced when the press room was transferred from the old Breydel Building to the Berlaymont. On President Barroso's website, it says that his deputy head of cabinet, Alexander Italianer, has responsibility for security.