Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents
C 177 E/70 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 6. 2000 Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (2000/C 177 E/10) COM(2000) 30 final - 2000/0032(COD) (Submitted by the Commission on 28 January 2000) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, confirmed by Declaration No 41 attached to the Final Act of the Treaty of Amsterdam. Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 255(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, (6) Under Articles 28(1) and 41(1) of the Treaty on European the right of access also applies to documents Union, relating to the common foreign and security policy and to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, Whereas: (7) In order to bring about greater openness in the work of legis- the institutions and in line with current national lation in most of to documents should be extended to include all documents held by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. the Member States, access as (1) The second paragraph of Article 1 of the Treaty on the Treaty of amended European Union, Amsterdam, enshrines the concept of openness, stating that This Treaty marks a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of in which decisions are taken as openly as Europe, possible and as closely as possible to the citizení. by (2) Openness enables citizens to participate more closely in the the decision-making process and guarantees administration enjoys greater legitimacy and is more effective and more accountable vis-à-vis the citizen in a democratic system. that (3) The conclusions of the European Councils held at Birmingham, Edinburgh and Copenhagen stressed the need to introduce greater transparency into the work of the Union institutions. Following these conclusions, the initiatives aimed at institutions improving the the decision-making process by targeting information and communication measures more effectively and adopting rules on public access to documents. launched a series of transparency of (4) The purpose of this Regulation is to widen access to documents as far as possible, in line with the principle of openness. It puts into practice the right of access to documents and lays down the general principles and limits on such access in accordance with Article 255(2) of the EC Treaty. (5) Since the question of access to documents is not covered by provisions of this Regulation will apply to documents concerning the two Treaties. This was activities the ECSC and Euratom Treaties, covered by those (8) The principles laid down by this Regulation are to be without prejudice to the specific rules applicable to access directly concerning persons with a specific interest. to documents, in particular those (9) The public interest and certain individual interests should be protected by way of a system of exceptions. Examples of these interests should be given in each case so that the system may be as transparent as possible. The institutions should also be entitled to protect their internal documents which express individual opinions or reflect free and frank discussions and provision of advice as part of internal consultations and deliberations. (10) In order to ensure that the right of access is fully observed, the present two-stage administrative procedure, with the possibility of court proceedings or complaints to the the Ombudsman, principle should be introduced whereby at the confir- matory stage no response is treated as a positive response. should be maintained, whilst (11) Each institution should take the measures necessary to the new provisions in force; inform the public about furthermore, to make it easier for citizens to exercise their rights arising from this Regulation, each institution should provide access to a register of documents. (12) Even though it is neither the object nor the effect of this legislation on Regulation to amend existing national is nevertheless clear that, by access to documents, virtue of loyalty which governs relations between the Community institutions and the Member States, Member States should take care not to hamper the proper application of this Regulation. the principle of it 27. 6. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 177 E/71 (13) In accordance with Article 255(3) of the EC Treaty, each institution lays down specific provisions regarding access to its documents in its rules of procedure. Failing such this Regulation cannot be applicable. This provisions, to it will Regulation and the provisions giving effect replace Council Decision 93/731/EC of 20 December document (1) 1993 Commission Decision 94/90/ECSC, EC, Euratom of 8 February 1994 on public to Commission documents (2) Parliament Decision European 97/632/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 10 July 1997 on public access to European Parliament documents (3), to Council public access access and on HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 General principle and beneficiaries Any citizen of the Union, and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State, to the widest possible access to the shall have the right documents of the institutions within the meaning of this Regu- lation, without having to cite reasons for their interest, subject to the exceptions laid down in Article 4. Article 2 Scope 1. This Regulation shall apply to all documents held by the institutions, that is to say, documents drawn up by them or received from third parties and in their possession. Access to documents from third parties shall be limited to those sent to the institution after the date on which this Regu- lation becomes applicable. This Regulation shall not apply to documents already 2. published or accessible to the public by other means. It shall not apply where specific rules on access to documents exist. documents shall be covered, namely documents concerning a matter relating to the policies, activities and decisions responsibility, falling within the institution’s such as discussion excluding texts for and excluding documents, opinions of departments, informal messages; internal use sphere of (b) áinstitutionsí shall mean the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission; (c) European Parliamentí shall mean Parliament bodies (and in particular the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents), and Parliamentary Committees, departments; the political groups (d) Councilí shall mean the various configurations and bodies of the Council (and in particular the Permanent Represen- tatives Committee the departments and the committees set up by the Treaty or by the legislator to assist the Council; the working parties), and (e) Commissioní shall mean the Members of the Commission as a body, the individual Members and their private offices, the represen- the Directorates-General and departments, tations set up by the Commission and committees set up to help it exercise its executive powers; and delegations, committees (f) áthird partyí shall mean any natural or legal person, or any entity outside the institution, including the Member States, other Community and non-Community institutions and bodies and non-member countries. A list of the committees referred to in points (d) and (e) of the first paragraph shall be drawn up as part of the rules giving effect to this Regulation, as provided for in Article 10. Article 4 Exceptions The institutions disclosure could significantly undermine the protection of: to documents where refuse access shall Article 3 Definitions (a) the public interest and in particular: - public security, For the purposes of this Regulation: - defence and international relations, (a) ádocumentí shall mean any content whatever its medium (written on paper or stored in electronic form or as a sound, visual or audiovisual recording); only administrative (1) OJ L 340, 31. 12. 1993, p. 43; Decision as last amended by Decision 96/705/EC, ECSC, Euratom (OJ L 325, 14. 12. 1996, p. 19). (2) OJ L 46, 18. 2. 1994, p. 58; Decision as amended by Decision 96/567/EC, ECSC, Euratom (OJ L 247, 28. 9. 1996, p. 45). - relations between and/or with the Member States or Community or non-Community institutions, - financial or economic interests, - monetary stability, - the stability of the Community’s legal order, (3) OJ L 263, 25. 9. 1997, p. 27. - court proceedings, C 177 E/72 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 6. 2000 - inspections, investigations and audits, - infringement proceedings, including the preparatory stages thereof, receiving the reply, he is entitled to make a confirmatory application asking the institution to reconsider its position, failing which he shall be deemed to have withdrawn the original application. - the effective functioning of the institutions; (b) privacy and the individual, and in particular: 4. In exceptional cases, the one-month time-limit provided for in paragraph 2 may be extended by one month, provided that is notified in advance and that detailed the applicant reasons are given. - personnel files, - information, confidence with appointments, opinions a and view to assessments given in or recruitments - an individual’s personal details or documents containing information such as medical secrets which, if disclosed, might constitute an infringement of privacy or facilitate such an infringement; (c) commercial and industrial secrecy or the economic interests of a specific natural or legal person and in particular: - business and commercial secrets, - intellectual and industrial property, - industrial, financial, commercial information, including information relating to business relations or contracts, banking and - information on costs and tenders in connection with award procedures; (d) confidentiality as requested by the third party having supplied the document or the information, or as required by the legislation of the Member State. Article 5 Processing of initial applications Failure to reply within the prescribed time-limit shall be treated as a negative response. Article 6 Processing of confirmatory applications; remedies 1. Where the applicant submits a confirmatory application, the institution shall reply to him in writing within one month of registration of the application. If the institution decides to maintain its refusal to grant access to the document requested, its refusal and inform the it shall state the grounds for applicant of remedies open to him, namely court the proceedings and a complaint to the Ombudsman, under the conditions laid down in Articles 230 and 195 of the EC Treaty, respectively. In exceptional cases, 2. in paragraph 1 may be extended by one month, provided that the applicant is notified in advance and that detailed reasons are given. the time-limit provided for Failure to reply within the prescribed time-limit shall be treated as a positive decision. Article 7 Exercise of the right to access The applicant shall have access to documents either by 1. consulting them on the spot or by receiving a copy. The costs of his doing so may be charged to the applicant. 1. All applications for access to a document shall be made in writing in a sufficiently precise manner to enable the insti- tution to identify the document. The institution concerned may ask the applicant for further details regarding the application. 2. Documents shall be supplied in an existing language version, regard being had to the preference expressed by the applicant. In the event of repetitive applications and/or applications the institution concerned relating to very large documents, informally, with a view to shall confer with the applicant finding a fair solution. An edited version of the requested document shall be provided if part of the document is covered by any of the exceptions provided for in Article 4. 2. Within one month of registration of the application, the institution shall inform the applicant, in a written and reasoned reply, of the outcome of the application. 3. Where the institution gives a negative reply to the inform him that, within one month of applicant, it shall Reproduction for commercial purposes or other forms of economic exploitation An applicant who has obtained a document may not reproduce it for commercial purposes or exploit it for any other economic purposes without the prior authorisation of the right-holder. Article 8 27. 6. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 177 E/73 Article 9 Information and registers provisions shall adoption of this Regulation]. take effect on. [three months after the Each institution shall take the requisite measures to inform the public of the rights they enjoy as a result of this Regulation. Furthermore, to make it easier for citizens to exercise their rights arising from this Regulation, each institution shall provide access to a register of documents. Article 10 Effect Article 11 Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. It shall be applicable from. [three months from the date of adoption of this Regulation]. Each institution shall adopt in its rules of procedure the provisions required to give effect to this Regulation. Those This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States