1993D0731 — EN — 14.12.1996 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL 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
Nopage date
►M1Council Decision 96/705/Euratom, ECSC, EC of 6 December 1996 L 325 19 14.12.1996
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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 andCommission documents, reaching common agreement on the principleswhich 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 aperson, 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, musthowever be subject to exceptions, particularly as regards protection ofthe 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 itsauthorization replies to applications for access to documents, except incases where the Council is called upon to reply to a confirmatoryapplication;
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 under the
conditions laid down in 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).
Article 2
1. An application for access to a Council document shall be sent in
writing tothe Co uncil (
1). It must be made in a sufficiently precise
manner and must contain information enabling the document or docu-ments requested tobe identified. Where necessary, the applicant shallbe 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 anyother national or international body, the application must not be sent tothe Council, but direct to the author.
(1) The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, ►M1175
rue de la Loi ◄, 1048 Brussels, Belgium.
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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.
2. The relevant departments of the General Secretariat shall
endeavour to find a fair solution to deal with repeat applications and/orthose 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 salewithout 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, international
relations, monetary stability, court proceedings, inspections andinvestigations),
— 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 docu-ment or as required by the legislation of the Member State whichsupplied any of that information.
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 applica-
tions for access to Council documents, except in the cases referred to inArticle 7 (3), in which the reply shall come from the Council.
Article 6
Any application for access to a Council document shall be examined by
the relevant departments of the General Secretariat, which shall suggestwhat 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 applica-tion has been approved or that the intention is to reject it. In the lattercase, the applicant shall also be informed of the reasons for this inten-tion and that he has one month to make a confirmatory application forthat position to be reconsidered, failing which he will be deemed tohave withdrawn his original application.
2. Failure to reply to an application within a month of submission
shall be equivalent toa refusal, except where the applicant makes aconfirmatory application, as referred to above, within the followingmonth.
3. Any decision to reject a confirmatory application, which shall be
taken within a month of submission of such application, shall state thegrounds on which it is based. The applicant shall be notified of thedecision in writing as soon as possible and at the same time informed ofthe content of Articles 138e and 173 of the Treaty establishing theEuropean Community, relating respectively to the conditions for referralto the Ombudsman by natural persons and review by the Court ofJustice 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.
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5. Exceptionally, the Secretary-General, having notified the applicantin advance, may extend by one month the time limits laid down in thefirst sentence of paragraph 1 and in paragraph 3
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Article 8
This Decision shall apply with due regard for provisions governing the
protection of classified information.
▼M1
Article 9
In 1996, and every twoyears thereafter, the Secretary-General shall
submit a report on the implementation of this Decision.
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Article 10
This Decision shall take effect on 1 January 1994.