The European Parliament Thursday voted nearly unanimously in favor of...

those in the area of the common foreign and security policy” (http://xrl.us/bnpneq). The agreement for the first time fully formalizes access for members of Parliament to classified documents like trade agreements or other international treaty drafts held by the Council. Access to limited, confidential, secret and top-secret classified information was necessary for the Parliament to fulfill its role as co-legislator, according to the Lisbon Treaty. Lack of access such as that experienced during the negotiations of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement weren’t acceptable, said the lead rapporteur, Green Party member Gerald Haefner. Full access meant not only access to finalized agreements, but to all documentation, preparatory texts and strategy documents. Haefner said security clearance will be leveled, with clearance only necessary above the confidential level (secret and top secret). A big step forward also would be full access to the registry of Council documents, because members of Parliament would be able to understand what kind of talks were going on, what kind of negotiations are under way or in planning stages. While the Council once it passes the agreement still could try to hide documents by relying on clauses protecting the wishes of the originators of the documents -- foreign governments, for example -- Parliament could have tested the arguments before the European Court of Justice, Haefner said. With the agreement in place, there is still work to do to establish a culture of transparency. Negotiations about Parliament’s access to documents regarding foreign policy issues are scheduled to start later this year. An agreement with the EC was put in place in 2010.