MEPs approve critical CIA report but remain divided
EU governments knew what was going on, say MEPs (Photo: wikipedia)
HONOR MAHONY
14.02.2007 @ 16:31 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - MEPs have voted in a favour of a strongly critical report accusing EU governments of being complicit in CIA activities in Europe but the political force of the vote was undermined by parliament infighting, with parts of the centre-right group in the assembly disowning it completely.
Deputies on Wednesday (14 February) voted 382 in favour, 256 against with 74 abstentions for the 77-page report implicating 14 European governments and accusing them of being aware of US transportation of terror suspects.
The report "condemns extraordinary rendition as an illegal instrument used by the United States in the fight against terrorism."
"[It] condemns, further, the acceptance and concealing of the practice, on several occasions, by the secret services and governmental authorities of certain European countries."
More solidarity
The MEP in charge of the temporary committee that carried out the year-long investigation welcomed the vote but condemned the fighting in the run-up to Wednesay's plenary session - fighting which involved pressure from EU governments to tone down the report and among MEPs themselves, some of whom say the report lacks hard evidence.
"It's necessary in Europe to have more solidarity," said Portuguese centre-right MEP Carlos Coelho, adding that it would be better to a have a more unified voice coming out of Europe rather than a "cacophony."
Socialist MEP and author of the report Claudio Fava said the study - which maintains that there were "at least" 1,245 CIA flights using European airspace and criticises several member states for their lack of cooperation with the committee - said the vote showed the "independence" of the parliament in the face of external pressure to toe a more favourable line.
Some parts of the report were toned down however, including some critical language concerning the UK and German governments.
For his part, Mr Fava also rejected accusations that the text was not based on facts, saying MEPs did now draw up the controversial document using "estimations."
But several centre-right MEPs voted against the report believing it to be biased, anti-American and lacking evidence.
"The EPP-ED Group today...could not support the final report...because of its lack of any proof to sustain the allegations of wrongdoing by Member States," said Italian MEP and speaker of the group, Jas Gawronski.
"It is disheartening, however, to see that speculations and loose assumptions have been allowed to fill the void where the facts should have been stated," he continued.
Next steps
The report concludes the European Parliament's investigation into the issue but it does make some recommendations for the future.
The final report suggests independent enquiries should be carried out at national level and recommends that all European countries should have "specific national laws to regulate and monitor the activities of third countries' secret services on their national territories."
The report is not legally-binding, but some MEPs, such as Mr Coelho, feel its political message will make it "more difficult" for something similar to happen in future.
