01/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - Martin Schulz, President of the Socialist group at the European Parliament, is demanding a statement by the European Commission and the Council at the 12-15 December plenary in Strasbourg on whether secret CIA prisons exist in Europe: 'If necessary, we will demand the establishment of a formal European Parliament committee of inquiry to look into these extremely serious allegations.' (See EUROPE 9078 on Commissioner Frattini's threatened sanctions.) Backing Schulz's stance, Socialist group Vice-Presidents Hannes Swoboda and Jan Marinus Wiersma announced that they are calling for the US ambassador to the EU to be invited to a joint session of two key EP committees - Foreign Affairs and Civil Liberties.