Following a meeting of the European Parliament's delegation to the telecoms conciliation committee, GUE/NGL Vice-President Eva-Britt Svensson pointed to procedural absurdities when a "common" position was forced through in a meeting on the telecoms package.

Svensson raised objections to the lack of democracy that surrounded the entire meeting, particularly criticising the fact that no written text of compromise proposals was presented to the members at the conclusion of the meeting. "Rather than presenting actual written proposals, an interpretation of what was said at the meeting was read out loud. There was no voting or acknowledgement from the chair that there was opposition to the compromise put forward by Catherine Trautmann MEP" said Svensson, calling the meeting "a coup" and "undemocratic".

"This kind of procedure threatens to undermine trust for the whole telecoms package in the eyes of the public", she concluded.

The next trilogue with Council will take place tomorrow and the final Conciliation Committee meeting is scheduled for November 4th.

The Telecoms Reform Package was originally presented by the Commission in November 2007. It aims to complete the internal market in the EU telecommunications industry.

Roger Falk: +32 473 80 45 79

David Lundy: +32 485 50 58 12

Office of Eva-Britt Svensson, Strasbourg: +33 (0)3 88 1 75105