EU: G6 Interior Ministers + USA to meet in secret in future

[statewatch] The
G6 meetings of Interior Ministers is comprised of France, Germany, Spain,

Italy, Poland and the UK – the meetings in September 2008 and March
2009 were also attended by the US Secretary of Homeland Security.

At
the G6 meetings in March 2009 it was agreed that: "No formal
conclusions would be issued after meetings."

Since it was set up in 2003 parliaments and civil society groups have
called for the agendas of the G6 meetings and a set of its
Conclusions to be made public which, with reluctance, it started to
do. Now G6 is not to published any Conclusions – though of course
plenty of "photo-opportunities" were provided for the media in Berlin.

Also in discussions with the US Secretary of Homeland Security the
meeting considered: "ideas for a ‚Transatlantic Agenda‘ between the
EU and US on interior issues. Data sharing was the main area
discussed, with reference to its implications for collaborative work
on organised crime, counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism."

See: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2009/sep/g6-meetings-hoc-answer.pdf UK
parliamentary answer on G6 meeting in Berlin in March 2009 (pdf) and see also:

– http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/jul/hol-behind-closed-doors.pdf "Behind
Closed Doors: the meeting of the G6 Interior Ministers at
Heiligendamm", House of Lords EU Committee report (pdf)

– G6-G8-Prum: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/sep/05eu-g6.htm Behind closed
doors: policy-making in secret intergovernmental and international
fora (Statewatch)

– G6: http://euobserver.com/9/23245?print=1 Berlin keen to use
informal chats with EU’s big six (euobserver, link)

Source: Statewatch News Online: 28 September 2009 (17/09) by email