2000/23/EC: Council Decision of 6 December 1999 on the improvement of information on the Council's legislative activities and the public register of Council documents
Date: 1999-12-06
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Council of the European Union, access to EU information, administrative transparency, dissemination of EU information, official document

L 9/22

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

13. 1. 2000

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 6 December 1999

on the improvement of information on the Council's legislative activities and the public register of
Council documents

(2000/23/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Having regard to its Rules of Procedure, and in particular
Article 8 thereof,

Article 1

Whereas:

(1)

for democracy and accountability
Openness is vital
within the European Union and information to the
public is one of the instruments to enhance such open-
ness;

The General Secretariat of the Council shall make accessible to
the public a list of the items on the provisional agendas of
meetings of the Council and its preparatory bodies referring to
cases where the Council acts in its legislative capacity, as
defined in Article 6 of its Rules of Procedure.

This list shall include references to the documents considered
in respect of those items. It shall be available in advance of the
respective meeting and be updated in case of any changes.

(2) Without prejudice to Council Decision 93/731/EC of 20
December 1993 on public access to Council docu-
ments (1) and to the principles and limits governing the
right of access to documents to be adopted under Article
255
European
Community:

establishing

Treaty

the

the

of

— further efforts should be made to improve informa-
tion on the Council's legislative activities as defined
in Article 6 of its Rules of Procedure,

— measures should be taken to enhance further the
performance of the public register of Council docu-
ments accessible on the Internet
(http://ue.eu.int)
since 1 January 1999,

— the Council's internal procedures for public access to
its documents should be further rationalised by using
information technologies and avoiding excessive
bureaucracy,

(1) OJ L 340, 31.12.1993, p. 43. Decision as amended by Decision

96/705/EC, ECSC, Euratom (OJ L 325, 14.12.1996, p. 19).

Article 2

The public register of Council documents shall also include
references to the document number and the subject matter of
classified documents. No reference shall be made to the subject
matter if disclosure of this information could undermine:

— the protection of the public interest (public security, inter-
national relations, monetary stability, court proceedings,
inspections and investigations),

— the protection of the individual and of privacy,

— the protection of commercial and industrial secrecy,

— the protection of the Community's financial

interests,

— the protection of confidentiality as requested by the natural
or legal person who supplied any of
the information
contained in the document or as required by the legislation
of the Member State which supplied any of that informa-
tion.

13. 1. 2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 9/23

As soon as the necessary technical preparations have been made and at the latest by 1 July 2000, it shall be
indicated in the register which documents have already been released to the public, and their content shall
be made available on the Internet.

Article 3

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal.

It shall take effect as from 1 January 2000.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 6 December 1999.

For the Council

The President

T. HALONEN