FRANCE BLOCKS BRITAIN'S MOVE TO OPEN EU LEGISLATIVE PROCESS TO THE PUBLIC

The British want to open the now secretive EU legislative process to the public but have encountered resistance from an expected source:

Tony Blair, British prime minister, wants to allow television cameras into more sessions of the Council of Ministers - the EU's main lawmaking body - during debates on legislation. But France last week signalled it had serious reservations about the plan, which now looks likely to disappear from the agenda until at least the second half of 2006.

The British EU presidency believes that opening up lawmaking to increased public scrutiny would help to address the growing gap between European citizens and Brussels.

Under Britain's preferred option, it would become the norm for EU ministers to debate law in public, unless there was an explicit decision to exclude the cameras.

Why does France object to public access? Because the legislative process would simply move underground:

French officials say that although they support transparency in principle, they fear that the council could cease to operate effectively. Sensitive decisions would simply be taken in the corridors or outside the ministerial chamber by civil servants, they say.

Really, Europe is screwed.