Decision of the European Central Bank of 3 November 1998 concerning public access to documentation and the archives of the European Central Bank (ECB/1998/12)
Date: 1998-11-03
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: European Central Bank, access to information, archives, document

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Official Journal of the European Communities

28. 4. 1999

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 3 November 1998

concerning public access to documentation and the archives of the European
Central Bank

(ECB/1998/12)

(1999/284/EC)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of
Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (herein-
after referred to as the ‘Statute') and in particular to
Article 12.3 thereof,

Having regard to the Rules of Procedure of the European
Central Bank (ECB) and in particular to Articles 23.2 and
23.3 thereof,

Whereas the Declaration on the right of access to in-
formation annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty on
European Union emphasises that
the
decision-making process
the democratic
nature of the institutions and the public’s confidence in
the administration;

transparency of

strengthens

Whereas the European Council
in Birmingham and
Edinburgh agreed on a number of principles to promote a
Community closer to its citizens;

Whereas the European Council
firmed the principle of giving citizens
possible access to information;

in Copenhagen reaf-
the greatest

Whereas citizens have a legitimate interest in the organ-
isation and functioning of institutions and bodies that are
financed from public funds;

Whereas Decision No 9/97 of the Council of the Euro-
pean Monetary Institute (EMI) of 3 June 1997 (1) foresees
that the public shall have access to EMI administrative
documents; whereas the EMI went into liquidation on 1
June 1998; whereas it is required to specify the principles
which will govern access to the documentation and the
archives of the ECB;

Whereas the European Ombudsman issued a Decision in
the own initiative inquiry into public access to docu-
ments (2); whereas the recommendations of that Decision
applied to the EMI only in relation to administrative
documents; whereas the same limitations of the scope of
application of the Decision are applicable to the ECB;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 10.4 of the Statute,
the Governing
the proceedings of
Council of the ECB are confidential, but the Governing
Council of the ECB may decide to make the outcome of
its deliberations public;

the meetings of

Whereas, in accordance with Article 23.1 of the Rules of
Procedure of the ECB, the proceedings of the decision-
making bodies of the ECB and of any committee or
group established by them are confidential unless the
Governing Council of the ECB authorises the President
of the ECB to make the outcome of their deliberations
public;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 23.2 of the Rules of
Procedure of the ECB, all documents drawn up by the
ECB are confidential unless the Governing Council of the
ECB decides otherwise;

Whereas this Decision is an additional element in the
ECB’s information and communication policy; whereas
clear rules can promote good administration by helping
officials to deal accurately and promptly with requests
from the public for documents;

Whereas the ECB, before granting access to any docu-
ment containing information obtained from the central
bank of a Member State, will consult that national central
bank;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 11.6 of the Statute,
the Executive Board of the ECB is responsible for the
current business of the ECB,

(1) OJ L 90, 25.3.1998, p. 43.

(2) 616/PUBAC/F/IJH of 20 December 1996.

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HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

from the ECB, which may be withheld without there
being any requirement to give a reason.

Article 1

Access to administrative documents

The public shall have access to documentation and
1.
the archives of the ECB with regard to administrative
documents in accordance with the provisions of
this
Decision.

For the purposes of this Decision,

2.
‘administrative
document' shall mean any record, whatever its medium,
which contains existing data and which relates to the
actual organisation and functioning of the ECB. In addi-
tion, it shall mean any such record relating to the organ-
isation and functioning of the EMI.

Article 2

Application for access

An application for access to an administrative document
shall be sent in writing to the ECB (1). The ECB shall
endeavour to comply with the application. If the applica-
tion is not made in a sufficiently precise manner or does
not contain information enabling the requested docu-
ment to be identified, the ECB shall ask the applicant to
complete the application by providing further details.

Article 3

Form of access; costs; commercial reproduction

1.
An applicant shall have access to an administrative
document either by consulting it at the premises of the
ECB or by having a copy sent at his/her own expense. A
fee of ECU 10 (EUR 10 as from 1 January 1999) shall be
charged for copies of printed documents exceeding 100
pages in total, plus ECU 0,05 (EUR 0,05 as from 1
January 1999) per sheet of paper.

The ECB shall endeavour to find a fair solution to
2.
deal both with repeated applications by the same appli-
cant
for the same administrative document and with
applications which relate to a large number of or very
long administrative documents.

3. No one who has been given access to an adminis-
trative document in accordance with this Article may
reproduce or circulate the document
for commercial
purposes through direct sale without prior authorisation

(1) Addressed to the European Central Bank, Directorate External

Relations, Kaiserstraße 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main.

Article 4

Exceptions

Access
to an administrative document
granted where its disclosure could undermine:

shall not be

(cid:190) the protection of

the public interest,

in particular
public security, international relations, monetary and
exchange rate stability, court proceedings, inspections
and investigations,

(cid:190) the protection of the individual and of privacy,

(cid:190) the protection of copyright and of commercial,

banking and industrial secrecy,

(cid:190) the protection of the ECB’s financial interests,

(cid:190) the protection of confidentiality as requested by any
natural or legal person who supplied any of the in-
formation contained in the document or as required
by the law applicable to such person.

Article 5

Decision on application; confirmatory application;
judicial review

The ECB shall endeavour to deal with the applica-
1.
tion within a reasonable period of
time. Within one
month, at the latest, the applicant shall be informed in
writing by the Director for External Relations of the ECB
either that the application has been approved or that the
intention is to reject it. In the latter case, the applicant
shall also be informed of the grounds for this intention
and informed that he/she has one month within which to
make a confirmatory application for the position to be
reconsidered, failing which he/she will be deemed to have
withdrawn the original application.

Failure to reply to an application within a month of
2.
submission shall be equivalent
to a rejection, except
where the applicant makes a confirmatory application, as
referred to above, during the course of
the following
month.

A decision on a confirmatory application shall be
3.
taken by the Executive Board of the ECB within one
month of receipt.

Any decision to reject a confirmatory application
4.
shall state the grounds upon which it is based. The appli-
cant shall be notified of the decision in writing as soon as
the
possible and at

the same time be informed of

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28. 4. 1999

content of Articles 138e and 173 of the Treaty estab-
lishing the European Community, which relate to the
conditions for referral
to the Ombudsman by natural
persons and for the review of the legality of ECB acts by
the Court of Justice respectively.

Article 6

Replacement of EMI Decision No 9/97

Decision No 9/97 of the Council of the EMI shall be
replaced by this Decision with immediate effect.

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 3 November 1998.

5.
Failure to reply within a month of submitting the
confirmatory application shall be equivalent to a rejec-
tion.

The President of the ECB

Willem F. DUISENBERG