Decision No 18/97 laying down internal rules for the treatment of applications for access to documents held by the Court
Date: 1997-04-07
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: European Court of Auditors, access to information, confidentiality, information policy, right to information, rules of procedure

23.9.98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 295/1

I

(Information)

COURT OF AUDITORS

DECISION No 18/97

laying down internal rules for the treatment of applications for access to documents held by the
Court

(98/C 295/01)

THE EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Having regard to the declaration regarding the right of
access to information annexed to the final act of the
that
Treaty on European Union, which emphasises
transparency in the decision-making process strengthens
the democratic nature of the institutions and the public’s
confidence in the administration,

Having regard to the conclusions of the Birmingham and
Edinburgh European Council meetings in favour of a
Community which is closer to its citizens,

Having regard to the Financial Regulation applicable to
the general budget of
in
particular Article 88 thereof,

the European Communities,

Whereas the Court considers it advisable to adopt internal
rules regarding the treatment of requests for access to the
documents it holds;

Having regard to the provisions of Council Regulation
(EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983 regarding
the opening to the public of the historical archives of the
and the European
European Economic Community
Atomic Energy Community (1),

Whereas these internal rules form part of the framework
of the European Communities’ policy of communication
and information;

Whereas these rules will have to be implemented with due
for the provisions concerning the confidential
respect
nature of certain information,

(1) OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1.

Article 1

General Principle

Within the framework and limits of the provisions laid
down by these internal
the standards
governing the confidentiality of audits, the public shall
have access to the Court of Auditors’ documents, whether
on paper or in electronic form.

rules and of

Article 2

Preliminary procedures for responding to requests

1.
Applications for access to a document must be
submitted in writing and worded in a sufficiently precise
the
fashion;
information which is required to identify the relevant
document or documents.

in particular,

they must

contain,

all

All applications received by the Court of Auditors
2.
the External
shall be forwarded to the Director of
Relations Department and Legal Service, with copies to
the President and the Secretary-General. After consultation
with the Member of the Court concerned, the Director of
the External Relations Department and Legal Service shall
examine the admissibility of the application and decide
what action shall be taken.

the Director of

3. Where appropriate,
the External
Relations Department and Legal Service shall ask the
applicant to formulate the application in greater detail.
This must be done within one month of receipt of the
application.

Access to documents shall take the form either of
4.
inspection thereof at the Court or delivery of a copy to the
applicant at his/her expense. Inspections of documents
shall take place on the premises of the Court of Auditors
in Luxembourg; the date and time shall be agreed between

C 295/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

23.9.98

the applicant and the Director of the External Relations
Department and Legal Service. A standard fee of ECU 10
plus ECU 0,05 per sheet of paper shall be charged for the
delivery of a copy of a paper document exceeding 30
pages, plus any postage costs incurred. The fees to be
charged for other media shall be decided case by case and
the applicant shall be informed in advance.

5.
The applicant shall be informed in writing within a
month of the date of receipt of his application, by the
Director of the External Relations Department and Legal
Service, of the Court’s response to it. The Director of the
External Relations Department and Legal Service shall
find,
in consultation with the applicants, an equitable
solution in cases of repeat applications and/or applications
concerning lengthy documents. Should an application be
rejected, the reasons for rejection shall be stated and the
applicant shall be informed of his right to appeal against
failing which the
this decision within one month,
application shall be considered as withdrawn.

6. No person to whom a document
sent may
reproduce or distribute the said document unless prior
permission has been given in writing by the Court of
Auditors.

is

Article 3

Treatment of appeals concerning applications which have
been rejected in the first instance

1.
All appeals addressed to the Court of Auditors shall
be submitted to the President of the Court of Auditors
with copies to the Secretary-General and to the Director
of the External Relations Department and Legal Service.

The President of

2.
in
consultation with the ADAR Group and the Member of
the Court responsible for the subject matter concerned,
shall be empowered to decide on the appeals.

the Court of Auditors,

2.
If the requested document was or will be published
in the year of application, the applicant will be asked to
for Official
direct
his
Publications
in
Luxembourg.

application to

Communities

the Office

European

the

of

The Court of Auditors may refuse access

3.
documents on the basis of the following criteria:

to

(a) the protection of the public interest (e.g. public safety,
legal
relations, monetary

international
proceedings, inspection and inquiry activities),

stability,

(b) the protection of the individual and of his privacy (in
particular, all the personal data concerning the Court
of Auditors’ officials and other members of staff),

(c) the protection of commercial and industrial secrets,

(d) the protection of

the

financial

interests of

the

Community,

(e) the protection of confidentiality at the request of the
individual
the
information or the confidentiality required by the
legislation of the Member State which supplied the
information.

entity which

supplied

legal

or

In

accordance

4.
governing
confidentiality laid down in Article 88(1) of the Financial
Regulation, the Court of Auditors shall refuse access to
any document containing observations regarding audits.

rules

with

the

5.
The Court of Auditors may also refuse access to
ensure the protection of the secrecy of its deliberations. As
to the
a general
contrary, it shall refuse access to all documents relating to
its working methods.

the Court decides

rule and unless

The applicant must be notified of the decision taken
3.
following an appeal within two months of the date of the
appeal. The reasons for rejection must be given and the
applicant must be informed of the channels of appeal that
are open to him, i.e. appeal to the courts and appeal to
the Ombudsman should the conditions apply which are
provided for under Articles 173 and 138e respectively of
the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Article 5

Entry into force

This decision was adopted by the Court of Auditors at the
Court’s 543rd meeting on 20 February 1997. It shall take
effect on the first day of the month following its adoption,
i.e. on 1 March 1997.

Article 4

Special cases and exceptions

Luxembourg, 7 April 1997.

1.
If the application concerns a document held by the
Court of Auditors but of which the Court is not the
author, the Court of Auditors shall confirm receipt of the
application and supply the name of the person, institution
or body to whom the application must be addressed.

For the Court of Auditors

Bernhard FRIEDMANN

President