Labour U-Turn on Opening the EU Council to Scrutiny is Anti-Democratic
Thursday 8 June 2006
Conservatives urge government clarification of the foreign secretary's view that the public should be denied entry to the Council of Ministers and support Austrian presidency's European summit proposal for democratic transparency
BRUSSELS, 8th June 2006 -- The Conservative Party rejects the British Foreign Secretary's u-turn on allowing public scrutiny of Council of Ministers and firmly supports the Austrian proposal to allow unfettered public access to the core decision-making body of the European Union.
Conservative MEPs have been championing this reform for years. Prime Minister Blair said in June 2005, ahead of Britain's assumption of the EU presidency, that there was a strong case for making Council meetings public.
Timothy Kirkhope MEP, leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament, said secrecy in the Council was undermining public confidence in the EU, and that transparency was essential to make the EU more relevant to people's lives.
Mr Kirkhope said:
"Making laws behind closed doors is plainly wrong. Transparency is essential if the EU is to gain the confidence of its citizens and make its politicians more accountable. The Council of Ministers is the only legislature in the western world that meets in secret.
Labour's u-turn displays utter hypocrisy. The Blair who championed openness last year, now cannot prevent his new foreign secretary from closing the door on democracy.
Making this change would be simple but its implications would be significant. I support the Austrian proposal and am ashamed of the UK government for threatening this key reform."
ENDS
