COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS DECISION No 18/2020

on public access to Committee of the Regions documents

THE BUREAU OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and, in particular, Article 15(3) thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (1),

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (2),

Having regard to the Committee of the Regions’ Rules of Procedure, in particular Rule 78 thereof,

Having regard to Committee of the Regions Bureau Decision No 64/2003 of 11 February 2003 on public access to Committee of the Regions documents (3),

Having regard to Committee of the Regions Bureau Decision No 128/2003 of 17 June 2003 on public access to Committee of the Regions documents via the electronic document register,

Whereas in the Joint Declaration on Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission request the other institutions to adopt internal rules regarding public access to documents, taking into account the principles and limits set out in this Regulation (4),

Whereas the creation of a list of directly accessible documents pursuant to Rule 78(2) of the Committee of the Regions’ Rules of Procedure and the Committee’s arrangements for the exercise of citizens’ right to access documents need to be combined in a single decision in order to facilitate transparency for citizens,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 Beneficiaries, scope and types of access 1. Any citizen of the Union and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State shall have a right of access to Committee of the Regions (‘the Committee’) documents, subject to the principles, conditions and limits set out in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the specific provisions laid down in this Decision. 2. For the purpose of this Decision, the term ‘Committee documents’ means any content within the meaning of Article 3(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 which has been drawn up or received by one of the Committee’s constituent bodies or by the Committee’s Secretariat-General. 3. The Committee shall provide public access to its documents through the register laid down in Chapter II and on request in accordance with Chapter III.

CHAPTER II

REGISTER OF COMMITTEE DOCUMENTS

Article 2 1. In accordance with Articles 11 and 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, a register of documents shall be established within the Committee. 2. Committee documents mentioned in the list appended to this Decision and documents to which access has been granted under Chapter III of this Decision shall be directly accessible to citizens in electronic form in the register. 3. The Committee may decide to include in the register documents other than those mentioned in paragraph 2. In this case, the Committee shall decide, on account of the nature of each document, either to make the document directly accessible to citizens in electronic form in the register or to include in the register only a reference number for the document, the subject matter and/or a short description of its content and the date on which it was received or drawn up and recorded in the register.

CHAPTER III

PROCEDURE FOR ACCESS ON REQUEST

Article 3 Documents accessible on request Committee documents that are not mentioned in the list appended to this Decision shall, as far as possible, be accessible to citizens on request, subject to the limits laid down in Articles 4 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

Article 4 Initial application 1. Submission: 1.1. Applications for access to a document shall be sent to the Secretariat-General of the Committee in any form of writing, including in electronic format, in one of the languages listed in Article 1 of Regulation No 1/1958 determining the languages to be used by the European Economic Community (5). 1.2. Applications shall be made in a sufficiently precise manner and shall in particular contain information enabling the document or documents requested to be identified as well as the name and contact details of the applicant. 1.3. If an application is not sufficiently precise, the Committee shall ask the applicant to clarify it and shall assist him or her in doing so; in this case, the period for replying shall be suspended until the Committee receives this information. 1.4. In the event of repeated or successive applications concerning very long documents or a large number of documents, the Committee may confer with the applicant informally with a view to finding a solution. 1.5. The applicant is not obliged to state the reasons for the application. 2. Processing: 2.1. An application for access to a document held by the Committee shall be sent on the same day as it is registered to the team responsible for handling applications for access to documents, which shall acknowledge receipt of the application, draft a reply and deliver the document within the prescribed time limit. 2.2. If the application relates to a document drawn up by the Committee to which one of the exceptions laid down in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may be applicable, the team responsible for the register shall contact the originator of the document, which shall suggest the course of action to be taken within five working days. 2.3. If the doubt as to disclosure concerns documents from third parties, the Committee shall consult the latter, giving them no less than five working days in which to make their position known, with a view to assessing whether one of the exceptions laid down in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is applicable. 2.4. If the application submitted to the Committee concerns a document that originates from another institution and has not yet been made public by that institution, the Committee shall give the institution responsible for the document no less than five working days in which to express any reservations regarding disclosure of the document. 2.5. If no reply is received from the third parties or the institution from which the document originates within the prescribed deadline, the Committee shall carry on with the procedure. 3. Decision: 3.1. Where access to the requested document is granted, the Committee shall, within 15 working days from registration of the application, supply the requested document to the applicant. The Director of Directorate A shall be responsible for replies giving access to the requested documents. 3.2. Where access to the requested document is refused, the Committee shall, within 15 working days from registration of the application, notify the applicant in writing of the grounds for the total or partial refusal and inform the applicant of his or her right to make a confirmatory application. Failure by the Committee to reply within the prescribed time limit shall entitle the applicant to make a confirmatory application. The Secretary-General shall be responsible for replies refusing, totally or partially, access to the requested documents. 3.3. In exceptional cases, for instance where an application relates to a very long document or a large number of documents, the time limit provided for in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2 may be extended by 15 working days, provided the applicant is notified in advance and that detailed reasons are given. 3.4. The Director of Directorate A and the Secretary-General may delegate their respective powers mentioned in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2.

Article 5 Confirmatory applications 1. Submission: 1.1. Confirmatory applications shall be sent to the Committee within 15 working days from receipt of the total or partial refusal of access to the document requested or, in the absence of any reply to the initial application, from the expiry of the period fixed for the reply. 1.2. Confirmatory applications shall be made in accordance with the same formal requirements as for the initial application. 2. Processing: The provisions laid down in Article 4(2) of this Decision shall apply by analogy to the processing of confirmatory applications; however, the Committee shall not be under the obligation to acknowledge receipt of the confirmatory application. 3. Decision: 3.1. Where access to the requested document is granted, the Committee shall, within 15 working days from registration of the confirmatory application, supply the requested document to the applicant. The President shall be responsible for replies giving access to the requested documents. 3.2. Where access to the requested document is refused, the Committee shall, within 15 working days from registration of the confirmatory application, notify the applicant in writing of the grounds for the total or partial refusal and inform the applicant of the remedies open to him or her. The President shall be responsible for replies refusing, totally or partially, access to the requested documents. 3.3. In exceptional cases, for instance where a confirmatory application relates to a very long document or a large number of documents, the time limit provided for in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2 may be extended by 15 working days, provided the applicant is notified in advance and that detailed reasons are given. 3.4. The President may delegate the powers mentioned in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2.

Article 6 Remedies Where the Committee totally or partially refuses to grant access to a document following a confirmatory application or fails to reply within the prescribed time limit, the applicant shall have the possibility of instituting court proceedings against the Committee and/or making a complaint to the European Ombudsman under the conditions laid down in Article 263 and 228 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, respectively.

Article 7 Issue of documents and cost of the reply 1. Issue of documents 1.1. Documents are to be supplied in the form of a paper copy, or in electronic format, with full regard to the applicant’s preference. 1.2. If a document has already been released by the Committee or by another institution and is easily accessible, the Committee may facilitate access to the document by informing the applicant of how to obtain the requested document. 2. Cost of the reply The cost of producing and sending copies of 20 or more A4 pages may be charged to the applicant. This charge may not exceed the real cost of the operation. Supply in electronic format shall be free of charge.

CHAPTER IV

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 8 Implementing measures The Secretary-General shall be given the task of implementing the measures necessary to ensure the application of this Decision.

Article 9 Repeal of Decision No 64/2003 and of Decision No 128/2003 This Decision repeals Committee of the Regions Bureau Decision No 64/2003 of 11 February 2003 on public access to Committee of the Regions documents and Committee of the Regions Bureau Decision No 128/2003 of 17 June 2003 on public access to Committee of the Regions documents via the electronic document register.

Article 10 Entry into force This Decision shall enter into force on the date following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, 9 October 2020. For the Bureau of the Committee of the Regions Apostolos TZITZIKOSTAS President

(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.

(2) OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39.

(3) OJ L 160, 28.6.2003, p. 96.

(4) OJ L 173, 27.6.2001, p. 5.

(5) OJ P 017, 6.10.1958, p. 385.