The British government was urged tonight to lead a European inquiry into allegations of CIA-run secret jails in eastern Europe to interrogate al-Qaeda captives.
Labour Euro-MP Claude Moraes said the claims of such operations in existing and future EU member states required swift answers from European ministers, currently presided over by the UK.
Human Rights Watch says the CIA was behind covert detention centres in Poland, a member state, and Romania, which hopes to join the EU in 2007. The organisation described the US action in holding prisoners there as "beyond the reach of the law and outside official oversight" in its "war on terror".
Mr Moraes, a member of the European Parliament's Committee on Justice and Home Affairs, said: "The European Commission and the Council (of ministers) should commit to an investigation of these serious allegations.
"Both the EU member state Poland and the candidate country Romania are bound by the European Convention on Human Rights and by UN conventions on the conduct of war and the prohibition of torture.
"The criteria governing human rights standards for any country aspiring to join the EU must be taken seriously and cannot involve sharp international practice. "Given that one country is an EU member and the other is on the verge of joining, the Council ought to give its view immediately."
Earlier, the European Commission and the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe - guardian of the Human Rights Convention - both said they would be looking into the allegations. Washington has refused to confirm or deny the claims, which involve the alleged use of eastern European countries to hide and question top al Qaida suspects.