28 March 2012
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This briefing looks at the decision-making process in the European Union leading up to and at the "Tampere Summit" in Finland, 15-16 October 1999. It looks at the issue of EU Summits, meetings of the 15 EU prime ministers, adopting programmes which are not publicly available prior to their adoption.
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, who covered the "Tampere process", comments:
"The process through which the Tampere Summit Conclusions were adopted can only be described as profoundly undemocratic (and it is one that has been used at subsequent Summits).
And it is quite unacceptable because the programme adopted affected the basic rights and liberties of the people of Europe and of refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing from poverty and persecution"
The story of Tampere - an undemocratic process excluding civil society:
The story of Tampere (Word)
The story of Tampere (pdf)
The Tampere Conclusions (html)
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