Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents
Date: 2000-01-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU institution, access to EU information, code of conduct, document, right to information

C 177 E/70

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Official Journal of the European Communities

27.6.2000

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents

(2000/C 177 E/10)

COM(2000) 30 final (cid:151) 2000/0032(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 28 January 2000)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

confirmed by Declaration No 41 attached to the Final Act
of the Treaty of Amsterdam.

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 255(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

(6) Under Articles 28(1) and 41(1) of the Treaty on European
the right of access also applies to documents
Union,
relating to the common foreign and security policy and
to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article
251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

(7) In order to bring about greater openness in the work of
legis-
the institutions and in line with current national
lation in most of
to
documents should be extended to include all documents
held by the European Parliament, the Council and the
Commission.

the Member States,

access

as

(1) The second paragraph of Article 1 of

the Treaty on
the Treaty of
amended
European Union,
Amsterdam, enshrines the concept of openness, stating
that (cid:145)This Treaty marks a new stage in the process of
creating an ever closer union among the peoples of
in which decisions are taken as openly as
Europe,
possible and as closely as possible to the citizen(cid:146).

by

(2) Openness enables citizens to participate more closely in
the
the decision-making process and guarantees
administration enjoys greater
legitimacy and is more
effective and more accountable vis-(cid:224)-vis the citizen in a
democratic system.

that

(3) The conclusions of

the European Councils held at
Birmingham, Edinburgh and Copenhagen stressed the
need to introduce greater transparency into the work of
the Union institutions. Following these conclusions, the
initiatives aimed at
institutions
improving the
the decision-making
process by targeting information and communication
measures more effectively and adopting rules on public
access to documents.

launched a series of
transparency of

(4) The purpose of

this Regulation is to widen access to
documents as far as possible, in line with the principle
of openness. It puts into practice the right of access to
documents and lays down the general principles and
limits on such access in accordance with Article 255(2)
of the EC Treaty.

(5) Since the question of access to documents is not covered
by provisions of
this
Regulation will apply to documents concerning the
two Treaties. This was
activities

the ECSC and Euratom Treaties,

covered by those

(8) The principles laid down by this Regulation are to be
without prejudice to the specific rules applicable to
access
directly
concerning persons with a specific interest.

to documents,

in particular

those

(9) The public interest and certain individual interests should
be protected by way of a system of exceptions. Examples
of these interests should be given in each case so that the
system may be as transparent as possible. The institutions
should also be entitled to protect their internal documents
which express individual opinions or reflect free and frank
discussions and provision of advice as part of internal
consultations and deliberations.

(10) In order

to ensure that

the right of access is fully
observed, the present two-stage administrative procedure,
with the possibility of court proceedings or complaints to
the
the Ombudsman,
principle should be introduced whereby at
the confir-
matory stage no response is treated as a positive response.

should be maintained, whilst

(11) Each institution should take the measures necessary to
the new provisions in force;
inform the public about
furthermore,
to make it easier for citizens to exercise
their rights arising from this Regulation, each institution
should provide access to a register of documents.

(12) Even though it is neither the object nor the effect of this
legislation on
Regulation to amend existing national
is nevertheless clear that, by
access to documents,
virtue of
loyalty which governs
relations between the Community institutions and the
Member States, Member States should take care not to
hamper the proper application of this Regulation.

the principle of

it

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(13) In accordance with Article 255(3) of the EC Treaty, each
institution lays down specific provisions regarding access
to its documents in its rules of procedure. Failing such
this Regulation cannot be applicable. This
provisions,
to it will
Regulation and the provisions giving effect
replace Council Decision 93/731/EC of 20 December
document (1)
1993
Commission Decision 94/90/ECSC, EC, Euratom of 8
February 1994 on public
to Commission
documents (2)
Parliament Decision
European
97/632/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 10 July 1997 on public
access to European Parliament documents (3),

to Council

public

access

access

and

on

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

General principle and beneficiaries

Any citizen of the Union, and any natural or legal person
residing or having its registered office in a Member State,
to the widest possible access to the
shall have the right
documents of the institutions within the meaning of this Regu-
lation, without having to cite reasons for their interest, subject
to the exceptions laid down in Article 4.

Article 2

Scope

1.
This Regulation shall apply to all documents held by the
institutions, that is to say, documents drawn up by them or
received from third parties and in their possession.

Access to documents from third parties shall be limited to
those sent to the institution after the date on which this Regu-
lation becomes applicable.

This Regulation shall not apply to documents already

2.
published or accessible to the public by other means.

It shall not apply where specific rules on access to documents
exist.

documents shall be covered, namely documents concerning
a matter relating to the policies, activities and decisions
responsibility,
falling within the institution’s
such as discussion
excluding texts
for
and excluding
documents, opinions of departments,
informal messages;

internal use

sphere of

(b) (cid:145)institutions(cid:146)

shall mean the European Parliament,

the

Council and the Commission;

(c) (cid:145)European Parliament(cid:146) shall mean Parliament bodies (and in
particular the Bureau and the Conference of Presidents),
and
Parliamentary Committees,
departments;

the political

groups

(d) (cid:145)Council(cid:146) shall mean the various configurations and bodies
of the Council (and in particular the Permanent Represen-
tatives Committee
the
departments and the committees set up by the Treaty or
by the legislator to assist the Council;

the working

parties),

and

(e) (cid:145)Commission(cid:146) shall mean the Members of the Commission
as a body, the individual Members and their private offices,
the represen-
the Directorates-General and departments,
tations
set up by the
Commission and committees set up to help it exercise its
executive powers;

and delegations,

committees

(f)

(cid:145)third party(cid:146) shall mean any natural or legal person, or any
entity outside the institution, including the Member States,
other Community and non-Community institutions and
bodies and non-member countries.

A list of the committees referred to in points (d) and (e) of the
first paragraph shall be drawn up as part of the rules giving
effect to this Regulation, as provided for in Article 10.

Article 4

Exceptions

The institutions
disclosure could significantly undermine the protection of:

to documents where

refuse access

shall

Article 3

Definitions

(a) the public interest and in particular:

(cid:151) public security,

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(cid:151) defence and international relations,

(a) (cid:145)document(cid:146) shall mean any content whatever its medium
(written on paper or stored in electronic form or as a
sound, visual or audiovisual recording); only administrative

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

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

(2) OJ L 46, 18.2.1994, p. 58; Decision as amended by Decision

96/567/EC, ECSC, Euratom (OJ L 247, 28.9.1996, p. 45).

(cid:151) relations between and/or with the Member States or

Community or non-Community institutions,

(cid:151) financial or economic interests,

(cid:151) monetary stability,

(cid:151) the stability of the Community’s legal order,

(3) OJ L 263, 25.9.1997, p. 27.

(cid:151) court proceedings,

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(cid:151) inspections, investigations and audits,

(cid:151) infringement proceedings,

including the preparatory

stages thereof,

receiving the reply, he is entitled to make a confirmatory
application asking the institution to reconsider its position,
failing which he shall be deemed to have withdrawn the
original application.

(cid:151) the effective functioning of the institutions;

(b) privacy and the individual, and in particular:

4.
In exceptional cases, the one-month time-limit provided
for in paragraph 2 may be extended by one month, provided
that
is notified in advance and that detailed
the applicant
reasons are given.

(cid:151) personnel files,

(cid:151) information,

confidence with
appointments,

opinions
a

and
view to

assessments

given in
or

recruitments

(cid:151) an individual’s personal details or documents containing
information such as medical secrets which, if disclosed,
might constitute an infringement of privacy or facilitate
such an infringement;

(c) commercial and industrial secrecy or the economic interests
of a specific natural or legal person and in particular:

(cid:151) business and commercial secrets,

(cid:151) intellectual and industrial property,

(cid:151) industrial,

financial,

commercial
information, including information relating to business
relations or contracts,

banking

and

(cid:151) information on costs and tenders in connection with

award procedures;

(d) confidentiality as

requested by the third party having
supplied the document or the information, or as required
by the legislation of the Member State.

Article 5

Processing of initial applications

Failure to reply within the prescribed time-limit shall be treated
as a negative response.

Article 6

Processing of confirmatory applications; remedies

1. Where the applicant submits a confirmatory application,
the institution shall reply to him in writing within one month
of registration of the application. If the institution decides to
maintain its refusal to grant access to the document requested,
its refusal and inform the
it shall state the grounds for
applicant of
remedies open to him, namely court
the
proceedings and a complaint to the Ombudsman, under the
conditions laid down in Articles 230 and 195 of the EC Treaty,
respectively.

In exceptional cases,

2.
in
paragraph 1 may be extended by one month, provided that
the applicant is notified in advance and that detailed reasons
are given.

the time-limit provided for

Failure to reply within the prescribed time-limit shall be treated
as a positive decision.

Article 7

Exercise of the right to access

The applicant shall have access to documents either by

1.
consulting them on the spot or by receiving a copy.

The costs of his doing so may be charged to the applicant.

1.
All applications for access to a document shall be made
in writing in a sufficiently precise manner to enable the insti-
tution to identify the document. The institution concerned may
ask the applicant for further details regarding the application.

2.
Documents shall be supplied in an existing language
version, regard being had to the preference expressed by the
applicant.

In the event of repetitive applications and/or applications
the institution concerned
relating to very large documents,
informally, with a view to
shall confer with the applicant
finding a fair solution.

An edited version of the requested document shall be provided
if part of the document is covered by any of the exceptions
provided for in Article 4.

2. Within one month of registration of the application, the
institution shall inform the applicant, in a written and reasoned
reply, of the outcome of the application.

3. Where the institution gives a negative reply to the
inform him that, within one month of
applicant,

it shall

Reproduction for commercial purposes or other forms of
economic exploitation

An applicant who has obtained a document may not reproduce
it for commercial purposes or exploit it for any other economic
purposes without the prior authorisation of the right-holder.

Article 8

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Article 9

Information and registers

provisions shall
adoption of this Regulation].

take effect on ...

[three months after the

Each institution shall take the requisite measures to inform the
public of the rights they enjoy as a result of this Regulation.
Furthermore, to make it easier for citizens to exercise their
rights arising from this Regulation, each institution shall
provide access to a register of documents.

Article 10

Effect

Article 11

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the third day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.
It shall be applicable from . . . [three
months from the date of adoption of this Regulation].

Each institution shall adopt
in its rules of procedure the
provisions required to give effect to this Regulation. Those

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.