WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1096/96 by James MOORHOUSE to the Council. Tape-recording of Council meetings
Date: 1996-05-08
Institutions: European Parliament, MOORHOUSE
Subjects: Coreper, Council of the European Union, archives, ministerial meeting, recording













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91996E1096

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1096/96 by James MOORHOUSE to the Council. Tape-recording of Council meetings  


Official Journal C 356 , 25/11/1996 P. 0011 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1096/96 by James Moorhouse (PPE) to the Council (8 May 1996)Subject: Tape-recording of Council meetingsFurther to the Council's answer (of 7 February 1996) to my Written Question E-2481/95 (of 13 September 1995) ((OJ C 79, 18.3.1996, p. 8.)), could the Council clearly clarify the following points either left unanswered in its reply or arising from it:1. State specifically whether (as well as tape-recording meetings of the Council itself, COREPER and some working groups) it is the normal practice of the Council to tape-record meetings of the European Council (of Heads of State and Government)?2. Clarify whether the access to recordings of the Council and its instances offered to 'General secretariats' in the plural (paragraph 3 of the Council's answer, as reproduced in OJ C 79/8) is a typographical error, or whether it indicates that the General Secretariat of the Commission, as well as the Council, in fact have access in certain circumstances?3. Indicate, in very general terms, the average length of time (weeks, months or years) which elapses between the moment when 'the minutes of the relevant meetings have been drafted' and 'the recordings are systematically effaced' (by which presumably is meant erased)?4. Indicate whether in granting access to tape-recordings whilst they exist, the General Secretariat of the Council allows them to be listened to by officials of national delegations, under supervision?5. Indicate why it believes, subject to appropriate safeguards, it would not be in the public interest for such tape-recordings to be retained by the Council and deposited in an archive for historical access by researchers and the general public, after a period of say 30 or 40 years?Reply (14 October 1996)1. As pointed out in the Council's reply to the Honourable Member's Question No E-2481/95, the practice of recording Council meetings goes back to the beginnings of the ECSC. Recordings are made exclusively for the needs of the Secretariat and are technical working tools. In principle, they are made at every official meeting at which the General Secretariat of the Council is required to carry out its duties.2. Access to the relevant tapes is confined to officials of the General Secretariat of the Council with responsibility in the matter; Commission officials do not have access to them.3. The average length of time which elapses between the establishment of the minutes and the recordings being erased varies from 2 to 3 months for Council meetings and up to a year for COREPER meetings.Recordings of meetings of all other committees and working parties are kept for 30 days after each meeting, following which they also are erased.It should be pointed out that the Council has adapted its sound recording system by replacing tapes with digitized optical disks.4. As indicated under point 2, only officials of the General Secretariat of the Council have authorized access to the recordings.5. As the recordings in question are used exclusively as internal technical tools for the Secretariat's work, depositing them in the Community's historical archives has not been envisaged.