EU opens secrecy doors

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Previously secret European Union documents will be made public, the EU has decided.

The documents will range from defence and trade policies to the positions the 15 member states hold on a wide range of issues.

The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to give the public access -- 400 votes to 85, with 12 abstentions -- to the documents.

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"It creates a new right for the citizens of Europe," said Britta Lejon, Swedish minister for democratic issues after the vote.

Under the rules, EU institutions can block release of certain documents if they are judged to violate certain secrecy rules, Associated Press said.

Secrecy can only be invoked to protect commercial interests, cases before a court or "to protect internal working material."

In those cases, documents can be kept secret for a maximum of 30 years.

The nations had been divided over how much information should be made available, but Sweden, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, made it a priority to open up EU documents.

Sweden has a similar national policy.

Europeans were promised guaranteed rights to see EU documents in the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty, which set a deadline of the end of April for a decision on rules and procedures.

"Citizens have a right confirmed by treaty to access these documents," Lejon said.

British MEP Michael Cashman, who wrote the legislation, said the rules would cover all categories of documents, including internal working material and defence documents.

But for some, the new rules are inadequate.

"Members did not seize the opportunity to fill in the loopholes in the compromise, which still allow for considerable restrictions of access to documents, by classifying them as 'sensitive'," said leader of the Greens group Heidi Hautala.

All EU institutions would have to give yearly reports to the EU assembly on the number of requests for access they accepted and denied.

It is hoped most documents would be made available via the Internet.

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