Almost 20 years after Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to bring some openness to the crumbling Soviet system, a cross-party group of European Union lawmakers from Britain launched Tuesday a campaign to bring a bit of glasnost to Brussels.

It takes a lot to get the leaders of the Labor Party (which is pro-European,) the Conservatives (who regard Brussels with a mix of dread and suspicion,) the U.K. Independence Party (which wants to withdraw from the Union,) the Liberals (who tend to be unashamedly federalist,) and the Green Party (which opposed the EU constitution) to agree on anything except the deliciousness of the food in Brussels and Strasbourg -- the European Parliament's two meeting places. But in an unprecedented move Tuesday, the leaders of all Britain's political groupings in Europe signed a letter to the London Times newspaper calling for the Council of Ministers -- the EU's most powerful legislative body -- to lift its veil of secrecy.

"We still have this medieval way of making decisions in the EU; people hide behind other member states, and blame them," said Gary Titley, the leader of the Labor faction in the European Parliament. "It increases people's sense of cynicism, but what we need is some straight talking."

Chris Davies, the head of the Liberal grouping in Brussels, told United Press International: "At time when there is so much concern about the distance between EU institutions and its citizens, it goes against everything we stand for to have a law making body that make all its decisions in secret."

French and Dutch voters rejected the EU's first-ever constitution in May and June, partly because they view the EU as an elitist project, distant from their lives and insensitive to their concerns. Ironically, the constitution they tore up would have opened all legislative meetings of the Council to the public, but changes to the EU's arcane decision-making procedures have now been put on ice as leaders ponder what to do with their unloved charter.

Transparency supporters say that a decision to open up Council meetings to the public could be taken by EU governments at any time by simple majority. But member states are wary about introducing parts of the rejected constitution through the back door. Some southern European countries are also hesitant about shedding light on Council goings-on, arguing such a move would simply transfer "real decisions" to smoky rooms and back-room corridors. Like British legislators who railed against televising House of Commons business in the 1980s, they claim the public would not be interested in democracy's plodding progress.

"If you have ever sat in on one of these meetings, you will observe batteries of civil servants handing ministers pre-prepared statements to read and you are unlikely to witness any substantive intellectual debate," says one former Council official. "It is not a pretty picture to show to the outside world."

Replies Davies: "If national members of parliament are to hold ministers to account they need to know what those ministers decide in Brussels in the name of their country."

Every day, ministers from the EU's 25 member states arrive in Brussels to take decisions in the Council of Minister's imposing headquarters that will directly affect the lives of 450 million European men and women -- and countless others throughout the world. While the European Parliament -- the EU's other legislative body -- takes all its decisions in public, the Council meets behind closed doors and publishes no record of how member states voted. The only way of knowing what happened in the meetings is through the distorted prism of ministers -- who invariably leave claiming a triumph for their national position -- and the hundreds of journalists who are barred access to the chamber, but patiently wait outside for press officers to feed them scraps of information.

Change is coming -- but at a snail's pace. Six years ago, Finland -- which then held the rotating presidency of the Union -- caused something of a storm in Brussels when it chose to publish the agendas of Council meetings on the Internet. Then, two years ago, ministers took the revolutionary decision to let the public view legislative debates -- but not votes.

Britain, which currently holds the EU presidency, has promised much openness, but delivered substantially less. In a meeting with British Euro-deputies shortly before he took over at the EU's helm, Blair said he was "not hostile to the idea of open government, but skeptical it would make a difference," according to one lawmaker present at the Foreign Office get-together.

The heads of the political groups who launched their campaign in Strasbourg Tuesday are banking on Blair to push the issue during his six months as EU chair. Given the Labor leader's record of promising the earth but delivering substantially less when it comes to the EU, the politicians might be advised to look to Helsinki for salvation. Finland, which takes over the presidency in the latter half of 2006, may be a pygmy when it comes to most political and economic matters, but on the issue of EU openness and transparency it is a giant.

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