Rules on public access to documents

(2002/C 292/08)

With a view to providing the public with high-quality information on its strategy, policies, activities and practices, the European Investment Bank is committed to applying an active information policy and to strengthening its efforts in this field.

Rules on public access to documents

Whereas:

(1) The second subparagraph of Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union enshrines the concept of openness, stating that "the Treaty marks a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen".

(2) Article 255 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (hereinafter the Treaty) enshrines a right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.

(3) The European Parliament and the Council have adopted Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, whose purpose is to give the fullest possible effect to the right of public access to documents and to lay down the general principles and limits on such access in accordance with Article 255(2).

(4) In a joint declaration relating 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, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission called on the institutions and bodies of the European Union to adopt internal rules on public access to documents which take account of the principles and limits laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

(5) Under Article 267 of the Treaty, the European Investment Bank (hereinafter the Bank) has the task "to contribute, by having recourse to the capital market and utilising its own resources, to the balanced and steady development of the common market in the interest of the Community. For this purpose, the Bank shall, operating on a non-profit-making basis, grant loans and give guarantees which facilitate the financing of investment projects in all sectors of the economy".

(6) Article 255 of the Treaty, pursuant to which Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 was adopted, applies solely to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission. However, the Bank also wishes that, under the requirements of good administration applicable to Community institutions and bodies including the Bank, documents be publicly available to the maximum extent possible. In 1997, the Bank had already adopted rules on public access to its documents(1), which shall be superseded by these instructions.

(7) The Bank has decided to revise its rules on public access to documents to take account of the principles and limits laid down in the aforementioned Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, to the extent that this shall not undermine the full performance of its task as a financial institution as laid down in the Treaty.

(8) With a view to regulating relations between the staff of the Bank and the public within a general framework, the Bank has adopted the "Code of good administrative behaviour for the staff of the European Investment Bank in its relations with the public"(2) (hereinafter the Code of good administrative behaviour).

(9) Article 287 of the Treaty prohibits the disclosure of information of the kind covered by the obligation of professional secrecy, in particular information about undertakings, their business relations or their cost components. Consequently, the Bank must, in order to be able to carry out its task, ensure that the promoters of projects, actual and potential borrowers, as well as other parties involved in the implementation or financing of a project can rely on the confidentiality of the banking relationship.

(10) It has to respect, in its relationships with other institutions and bodies both within and outside the Community framework, the confidentiality of documents exchanged between itself and the latter, to the extent necessary for attainment of the objectives pursued.

(11) Within the Bank, it is necessary to ensure free and unencumbered exchange of views in its internal processes of preparation, deliberation and decision-making in order to allow the smooth operation thereof; the Bank must also ensure the protection of personal data in accordance with Community rules.

(12) In the foregoing context, the Bank is committed to applying an active information policy and will continue and strengthen its efforts to provide the public with information on its strategy, policies, activities and practices; it will also, where and to the extent appropriate, continue to release basic information on concluded individual operations, in agreement with its co-contracting parties,

The Management Committee of the Bank has adopted the following rules for the attention of its departments; these shall be published:

Article 1

Scope

1. Members of the public shall have access to the documents of the Bank in accordance with the principles, on the conditions and within the limits laid down in this decision.

2. "Member of the public" shall mean any citizen of the Union or any natural or legal person residing or having its statutory registered office in a Member State of the European Union or in a State in which the Bank conducts its activities.

3. "Document" shall mean any content drawn up or received by the Bank concerning a matter relating to policies, activities or decisions falling within its sphere of responsibility.

4. "Third party" shall mean any natural or legal person or any entity outside the Bank, including the Member States, other Community or non-Community institutions and bodies and third countries.

Article 2

Applications

1. Applications for access shall be made in any written form, including electronic form. They shall be addressed to: General Secretariat

Information and Communications Department

European Investment Bank L - 2950 Luxembourg,

or to:

infopol@eib.org, or

infopol@bei.org

2. Applications for access shall be processed in accordance with the conditions and deadlines laid down in the Code of good administrative behaviour(3).

3. The applicant shall not be obliged to state reasons for the application. If any application is not sufficiently precise or if it does not enable the document or information sought to be identified, the Bank shall ask the applicant to clarify the application.

4. The Bank shall nevertheless retain the possibility of refusing to follow up any application of an excessive or patently disproportionate nature.

Article 3

Third-party documents

Where the Bank is approached with an application in respect of a document in its possession received from a third party, it shall consult the third party concerned for agreement, save where it results clearly from examination of the document in the light of this decision that it must or must not be disclosed.

Article 4

Exceptions

1. Access to all or part of a document shall be refused where its disclosure would undermine the protection of:

(i) the public interest as regards international relations or the financial, monetary or economic policy of the Community, its institutions and bodies or a Member State;

(ii) privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular in accordance with Community legislation regarding the protection of personal data;

(iii) court proceedings;

(iv) legal advice;

(v) the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits;

(vi) commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual property;

(vii) the obligation of professional secrecy where such disclosure were to be contrary to professional ethics, rules and practices applicable in the banking and financial sector;

(viii) the legitimate interest of the Bank in organising its internal management, notably with respect to human resources.

2. Access to all or part of a document drawn up by the Bank for internal use or received by it, which relates to a matter where the decision has not been taken by it, shall be refused if disclosure of the document would undermine the Bank's decision-making process. Access to a document containing opinions for internal use as part of deliberations and preliminary consultations within the Bank shall be refused even after the decision has been taken if disclosure of the document would undermine the Bank's decision-making process.

3. Any document or part of a document containing information about third parties shall not be disclosed, where the information has been identified to the Bank as being confidential, or is covered by an undertaking of confidentiality made by the Bank, or where the information is otherwise of such a nature that it is subject to the Bank's duty of confidentiality toward third parties.

4. An exception to the rules laid down in the preceding paragraph shall be possible with the written authorisation of the person or entity protected by the confidentiality of the information in question.

5. The exceptions as laid down in the preceding paragraphs shall only apply for the period during which protection is justified on the basis of the content of the document. The exceptions may generally apply for a maximum period of 30 years. In the case of documents covered by the exceptions relating to privacy, commercial interests or internal management powers, the exceptions may, if necessary, continue to apply after this period.

Article 5

Access following an application

1. The applicant shall have access to documents either by consulting them on the spot or by receiving a copy, in electronic form where available.

2. Documents shall be supplied in an existing version and format.

3. If a document has already been released, either by the Bank or by a third party, the Bank shall reply to the application for access by informing the applicant how to obtain the requested document.

Article 6

Reproduction

This decision shall be without prejudice to any existing rules on copyright, including that of the Bank, which may limit a third party's right to reproduce or exploit released documents.

Article 7

Costs

An applicant may be charged a fee to cover the costs arising from the making available of documents requested.

Article 8

Recourse

Failing a reply within the deadline prescribed in Article 13 of the Code of good administrative behaviour or in the event of a total or partial refusal following a complaint, the applicant shall be free to contact the European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 195 of the Treaty.

Article 9

Final provisions

These rules shall annul and replace the decision adopted by the Management Committee on 26 March 1997(4). They shall be supplemented by the provisions of the Code of good administrative behaviour. The Secretary General of the Bank may, in consultation with the departments concerned, set in place the arrangements for applying these rules.

(1) OJ C 243, 9.8.1997.

(2) OJ C 17, 19.1.2001.

(3) OJ C 17, 19.1.2001.

(4) OJ C 243, 9.8.1997.