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"BCOUNCIL DECISION
of 20 December 1993
on public access to Council documents
(93/731/EC)
(OJ L 340, 31.12.1993, p. 43)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Council Decision 96/705/Euratom ECSC, EC of 6 December 1996 L 325 19 14.12.1996
"M2 Council Decision 2000/527/EC of 14 August 2000 L 212 9 23.8.20001993D0731 — EN — 23.08.2000 — 002.001 — 1
COUNCIL DECISION
of 20 December 1993
on public access to Council documents
(93/731/EC)
THE COUNCIL,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and
in particular Article 151 (3) thereof,
Having regard to its Rules of Procedure, and in particular Article 22
thereof,
Whereas on 6 December 1993 the Council and the Commission approved
a code of conduct concerning public access to Council and Commission
documents, reaching common agreement on the principles which must
govern such access;
Whereas provisions should be adopted for the implementation of those
principles by the Council;
Whereas these provisions are applicable to any document held by the
Council, whatever its medium, excluding documents written by a person,
body or institution outside the Council;
Whereas the principle of allowing the public wide access to Council
documents, as part of greater transparency in the Council’s work, must
however be subject to exceptions, particularly as regards protection of the
public interest, the individual and privacy;
Whereas, in the interests of rationalization and efficiency, the Secretary-
General of the Council should sign on behalf of the Council and on its
authorization replies to applications for access to documents, except in
cases where the Council is called upon to reply to a confirmatory
application;
Whereas this Decision must apply with due regard for provisions
governing the protection of classified information,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
1. The public shall have access to Council documents, except for
documents classified as TRÈS SECRET/TOP SECRET, SECRET or
CONFIDENTIEL within the meaning of the Decision of the Secretary-
General of the Council/High Representative for Common Foreign and
Security Policy of 27 July 2000 on measures for the protection of
classified information applicable to the General Secretariat of the
Council, on matters concerning the security and defence of the Union or
of one or more of its Member States or on military or non-military crisis
management, under the conditions laid down in this Decision.
Where a request for access refers to a classified document within the
meaning of the first subparagraph, the applicant shall be informed that
the document does not fall within the scope of this Decision.
2. ‘Council document’ means any written text, whatever its medium,
containing existing data and held by the Council, subject to Article 2 (2).!B
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Article 2
1. An application for access to a Council document shall be sent in
writing to the Council (1). It must be made in a sufficiently precise
manner and must contain information enabling the document or
documents requested to be identified. Where necessary, the applicant
shall be asked for further details.
2. Where the requested document was written by a natural or legal
person, a Member State, another Community institution or body, or any
other national or international body, the application must not be sent to
the Council, but direct to the author.
3. Without prejudice to Article 1(1), no Council document on matters
concerning the security and defence of the Union or of one or more of its
Member States or on military or non-military crisis management which
enables conclusions to be drawn regarding the content of classified
information from one of the sources referred to in paragraph 2 may be
made available to the public except with the prior written consent of the
author of the information in question.
Where access to a document is refused pursuant to this paragraph, the
applicant shall be informed thereof.
Article 3
1. The applicant shall have access to a Council document either by
consulting it on the spot or by having a copy sent at his own expense. The
fee shall be set by the Secretary-General/High Representative for
Common Foreign and Security Policy (hereinafter referred to as the
‘Secretary-General’).
2. The relevant departments of the General Secretariat shall endeavour
to find a fair solution to deal with repeat applications and/or those which
relate to very large documents.
3. Anyone given access to a Council document may not reproduce or
circulate the document for commercial purposes through direct sale
without prior authorization from the Secretary-General.
Article 4
1. Access to a Council document shall not be granted where its
disclosure could undermine:
— the protection of the public interest (public security, the security and
defence of the Union or of one or more of its Member States,
military or non-military crisis management, international relations,
monetary stability, court proceedings, inspections and investi-
gations),
— the protection of the individual and of privacy,
— the protection of commercial and industrial secrecy,
— the protection of the Community’s financial interests,— the protection of confidentiality as requested by the natural or legal
person who supplied any of the information contained in the
document or as required by the legislation of the Member State
which supplied any of that information.!B
(1) The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, "M1175 rue
de la Loi 3, 1048 Brussels, Belgium.!M2
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2. Access to a Council document may be refused in order to protect the
confidentiality of the Council’s proceedings.
Article 5
The Secretary-General shall reply on behalf of the Council to
applications for access to Council documents, except in the cases
referred to in Article 7 (3), in which the reply shall come from the
Council.
The Permanent Representatives Committee shall see to it that the
necessary measures are taken to ensure that the preparation of such
decisions is entrusted to persons authorised to take cognisance of the
documents concerned.
Article 6
Any application for access to a Council document shall be examined by
the relevant departments of the General Secretariat, which shall suggest
what action is to be taken on it.
Article 7
1. The applicant shall be informed in writing within a month by the
relevant departments of the General Secretariat either that his application
has been approved or that the intention is to reject it. In the latter case,
the applicant shall also be informed of the reasons for this intention and
that he has one month to make a confirmatory application for that
position to be reconsidered, failing which he will be deemed to have
withdrawn his original application.
2. Failure to reply to an application within a month of submission shall
be equivalent to a refusal, except where the applicant makes a
confirmatory application, as referred to above, within the following
month.
3. Any decision to reject a confirmatory application, which shall be
taken within a month of submission of such application, shall state the
grounds on which it is based. The applicant shall be notified of the
decision in writing as soon as possible and at the same time informed of
the content of Articles "M21953and"M22303of the Treaty
establishing the European Community, relating respectively to the
conditions for referral to the Ombudsman by natural persons and review
by the Court of Justice of the legality of Council acts.
4. Failure to reply within a month of submission of the confirmatory
application shall be equivalent to a refusal.
5. Exceptionally, the Secretary-General, having notified the applicant
in advance, may extend by one month the time limits laid down in the
first sentence of paragraph 1 and in paragraph 3. "M2The extension
may be for two months where it is necessary to consult a source other
than the Council, as provided in Article 2(3). 3
Article 8
This Decision shall apply with due regard for provisions governing the
protection of classified information.
Article 9
In 1996, and every two years thereafter, the Secretary-General shall
submit a report on the implementation of this Decision.!B
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Article 10
This Decision shall take effect on 1 January 1994.!B1993D0731 — EN — 23.08.2000 — 002.001 — 5