The plenary session of the European Parliament (EP), which
started in Srasbourg on Monday, is to debate and vote on a final
report on the illegal operations in Europe by the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Wednesday.
The final report was presented by a temporary committee by the
EP, the assembly of the European Union (EU). It was finalized after
twelve months of hearings, more than 30 meetings, seven official
delegations to different countries, analyses and testimony.
In November 2005, news report of secret CIA detention centers in
Eastern Europe quickly evolved into a series of high-profile
investigations across Europe.
In December 2005, the EP's Civil Liberties Committee and Foreign
Affairs Committee urged the EU assembly to open its own inquiries.
In January 2006, the EP adopted a resolution to set up a temporary
committee to do the job.
According to the EP's website, the draft final report concludes
that "at least 1245 flights operated by the CIA flew into European
airspace or stopped over at European airports between the end of
2001 and the end of 2005".
"Temporary secret detention facilities in European countries may
have been located at US military bases," it says.
During the four-day plenary session, newly-elected EP President
Hans-Gert Poettering will make his inaugural address setting out
his priorities for the next two and a half years.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the current
EU presidency and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso
will respond.
The EU assembly will debate and vote on a resolution on the
forthcoming European Council on the Lisbon strategy to be held in
Brussels on 8 and 9 March.
The House will also debate on two reports on waste from the EP
Environment Committee.
The first puts forward binding targets for reducing waste by
2010 and rejects European Commission proposals to modify the
existing five-stage "waste hierarchy," and the second looks at the
European Commission's proposed long-term strategy for preventing
and recycling waste.
(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2007)
