EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/512

(2004/C 84 E/0590)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3955/03

by Heide Rühle (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(5 January 2004)

Subject: Interpretation of environmental information directives

The concept ‘internal communications’ used in Article 3(4) and Article 4(l)(e) respectively of Directives 90/313/ΕΕ (1) and 2003/4/EC (2) concerning public access to environmental information causes serious interpretation problems when the attempt is made to apply it in practice.

1. Does the Commission consider that any simple process by which data and factual information are exchanged between or within authorities constitutes ‘internal communications’ for the purposes of the directives?

2. If not, in the light of what substantive or formal criteria ought information processes which constitute ‘internal communications’ as referred to in the above directives to be distinguished from those which are not excepted on the grounds of constituting ‘internal communications’?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(4 March 2004)

The Commission would like to remind the Honourable Member that Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment and Directive 2003/4/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC are addressed to the Member States and that requests for access to environmental information are handled according to the applicable national laws. These two Directives allow the Member States to apply some restrictions to the right of access to information. However, the Commission is of the opinion that their purpose is to give free access to information on the environment that is held by public authorities and that, therefore, any exception must be interpreted narrowly.

Both Article 3(3) of Directive 90/313/EEC (3) and Article 4(l)(e) of Directive 2003/4/EC (4), provide that requests for information may be refused if these concern internal communications. The Commission is of the opinion that internal communications are indeed the processes by which data and factual information are exchanged within public authorities. Internal communications prepare an administrative decision; it must be possible for an administration to lay down in writing the different arguments in favour of or against a decision on a specific problem, without these internal deliberations being made public. The essential element is, after all, the administrative decision and its possible justification, not the way in which this decision was reached. However, this does not mean that Article 4(l)(e) of Directive 2003/4/EC allows or even obliges access to be refused to every internal communication. Indeed, Article 4(1)(e) of Directive 2003/4/EC explicitly states that access to internal communications may only be refused taking into account the public interest served by disclosure.

The interpretation of both Directives lies, in the last resort, with the Court of Justice.

(1) OJ L 158, 23.6.1990, p. 56.

(2) OJ L 41, 14.2.2003, p. 26.

(3) Article 3(3): A request for information may be refused where it would involve the supply of unfinished documents or data or internal communications, or where the request is manifestly unreasonable or formulated in too general a manner.

(4) Article 4(l)(e): Member States may provide for a request for environmental information to be refused if the request concerns internal communications, taking into account the public interest served by disclosure.