EU:EU states knew about the illegal transport and detention of terrorism suspects by the CIA on their territory and have obstructed an investigation conducted by MEPs.
A draft report prepared by a committee of the European Parliament strongly criticises 11 member states and several top politicians for not fully co-operating with its inquiry into the practice of rendition by the CIA and the existence of secret prisons.
It specifically targets EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana for "omissions and denials" in his evidence to the committee as a matter for deep concern.
It also says the evidence provided by EU's counter-terrorism chief Gijs de Vries "lacked credibility".
The report "deplored" poor co-operation from Britain, as represented before the committee by Europe minister Geoff Hoon and named 11 EU states, which had either directly or indirectly been complicit in the illegal transport of suspects by the CIA.
It notes that at least 1,245 flights operated by the CIA have been overflying through European airspace, or stopping over at European airports.
It also regrets that member states had relinquished control over their airspace and airports in admitting flights operated by the CIA which, in some occasions, aimed at the illegal transport of detainees.
The US has admitted using rendition, or the secret transfer of terrorist suspects, as part of its strategy on the "war on terror" that it has adopted since the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
In September this year president George Bush confirmed that high-level suspects had been held at secret overseas locations, although it has not yet been proven if any of these secret prisons were based in any EU member state.
The report provides no hard evidence about the existence of these secret prisons, however it says it is deeply concerned that in some cases, temporary secret detention facilities in EU states, might be located on US army bases. It also regrets that there may be a lack of control over US bases by hosting states, and urges them to exercise jurisdiction over their whole territory, including foreign military bases.
Poland is singled out for criticism for not co-operating with the inquiry, which it said was probably due to an overall scepticism from the government.
It also names the intelligence training centre at Stare Kiejkuty as a possible location of a secret prison.
Italy, which is one of three states named that facilitated rendition on its territory along with Germany and Sweden, is also singled out for strong criticism.
The report accuses the former head of Italy's Sismi intelligence service of "concealing the truth" when he told the committee that Italian agents played no part in the CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in 2003.
On the contrary, Sismi officials played an active role in the abduction of Abu Omar, and the CIA kept Italian authorities informed on his later detention in Egypt. Abu Omar had been "held incommunicado and tortured ever since", it says.
The CIA plane used to transport Abu Omar to Egypt later stopped at Shannon airport on the way home to refuel, according to evidence presented to the committee.
The report notes that 147 CIA flights touched down at Irish airports.