WRITTEN QUESTION E-3893/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(14 January 2003)

Subject: Active efforts to ensure public access to information about the positions adopted by the EU in the TABD and the consequences of this dialogue for EU policy

1. Has the Commission noticed that the public have become far more interested in the development of the world market and trade agreements in recent years,

and that this particularly applies in the case of people who are concerned about the future of democracy, environmental protection, worldwide income distribution and protection of public care services for those who are most dependent on public services?

2. What is the Commission so far doing to satisfy the new desire for information arising from this growing interest among people other than the traditional parties with commercial interests? Will it increase the provision of the relevant information?

3. As an informal process through which European and American businesses and business associations make recommendations on a joint trade policy to be pursued by the EU and USA, what role has the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) so far played in the decision-making process of the EU, negotiations between the EU and USA and the EU's positions in WTO negotiations?

4. Who is responsible for public access to information about the recommendations made, the preliminary documentation containing Commission positions and its answers to questions and ideas from businesspeople and their organisations? Does Article 4(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001(1) apply to this, and what exceptions to public access are applicable in this connection?

5. Why does the Commission, in its response to recommendations by the Ombudsman relating to case No 1128/2001/IJH, regard publication of its negotiating position in bilateral negotiations with the USA or global negotiations as restricting its room for manoeuvre in international negotiations rather than as a way of encouraging involvement and securing approval on the part of European public opinion?

6. Does the present degree of openness and transparency accord with the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights? If so, what is the Commission's justification for believing this to be the case?

7. Will the Commission increase its active efforts to ensure public access to information about the positions it adopts in the TABD by placing them on the website of DG Trade, together with the minutes of meetings between the Commission and the TABD, so that anybody who so wishes, including interested parties, is no longer dependent solely on material which may or may not be disseminated via the TABD website?

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

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(17 February 2003)

1. As globalisation takes shape and commercial policy expands into new fields of activity, trade issues are indeed attracting interest from beyond the traditional circle of those in the know. Public opinion is concerned about trade policy on account of its impact on globalisation and its effects on public services, the environment, social clauses in trade relations, food quality, and cultural diversity. The Commission is aware of the responsibilities which the Union, as the world's leading trading power, has towards its own citizens and its partners. As a result, one of the EU's objectives at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference in Doha from 9 to 14 November 2001 was to add these new dimensions to the agenda for the new round of trade negotiations and to make progress on multilateralism and the rule of law in international trade relations.

2. On 24 September 2002, the Interinstitutional Group on Information (IGI) of which Parliament is part adopted a Commission proposal on a communication strategy for 2003, whose fourth priority relates to Europe in the world and has the following communication objectives:

(i) to encourage a more balanced view of globalisation by highlighting the advantages/opportunities of opening up markets and the trump cards held by the European Union in this respect;

(ii) to point out the value of the present system/past achievements of commercial policy as a common strategy/response by Europeans to globalisation;

(iii) to highlight the principles/values espoused by the EU on the world stage.

3. The Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) is one of a number of organisations, including the Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) and the Trans-Atlantic Environmental Dialogue (TAED), which were set up in response to a public declaration of the Commission and the American Government at their Summit meeting in Madrid in 1995. This set out the New Transatlantic Agenda, which covers co-operation on issues such as trade and investment. Among its objectives is to build bridges across the Atlantic, in particular by encouraging private actors and policy makers in the Union and the United States to establish concrete links.

These bodies make public recommendations to the Commission and the American Government. They are invited on a rotating basis to make a presentation to leaders at Union-United States Summits. The Commission considers the input from all of these dialogues to be of equal importance and very valuable input in its efforts to develop and strengthen a balanced and sound transatlantic relationship.

Participation in these bodies is open to stakeholders in the relevant areas.

4. 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 is applicable in its entirety. The only exceptions permitted are those laid down in Article 4 of this Regulation.

5. As regards its reply to the Ombudsman's draft recommendation in case No 1128/2001/IJH, the Commission would like to point out that this complaint only concerned a few briefing and discussion papers drafted for internal use. The vast majority of the documents, to which the complainant had requested access, either are accessible on the Internet or have been released by the Commission. The approach of the Commission which was endorsed by the Ombudsman in his final decision of 9 December 2002 to close the case is that disclosing internal reasoning and the alternatives that have been considered would weaken its negotiating position as it would give negotiating partners an insight into possible compromises the Commission would be willing to make at a later stage in the negotiation.

6. The policy of transparency applied by the Commission is in accord with the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and in particular with Article 42 on the right of access to documents. This Article of the Charter does, in fact, correspond to Article 255 of the EC Treaty, as implemented by the aforementioned Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, which applies in full to documents relating to the TABD. In addition, as mentioned under the following point, the Commission practises an active policy of transparency in this field, which goes beyond its obligations arising from the provisions of the EC Treaty.

7. The recommendations of the TABD are all to be found on its website (http://www.tabd.com). They are also made available, together with the Commission's reactions to them, on the Commission's Europa site on the Internet. Honourable Members who follow Union-United States trade matters will be entirely familiar with, and are also invited to participate in, the work of the TABD.