WRITTEN QUESTION E-0155/00 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Commission views on strictly limiting public access to policy documents.
Date: 2000-01-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: access to EU information

C 280 E/188

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

3.10.2000

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(2 March 2000)

The financial assistance given by the Commission to Italy for funding projects within the scope of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 3904/92 of 17 December 1992 on measures to adapt the profession of customs
agent to the internal market (1) amounted to € 4,4 million, with the total cost of the programme being
15 888 million lire. Projects financed in Liguria accounted for 17 % of the total, i.e. 2 707 million lire.
97 % of the operations financed were designed to be of benefit to small and medium-sized enterprises
in restructuring, modernisation/expansion, staff
(SMEs). The contributions went
training, creation of new substitute activities and diversification of the market.

towards investment

The Regulation in question was applicable for one year as from 1 January 1993.

(1) OJ L 394, 31.12.1992.

(2000/C 280 E/218)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0155/00

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(31 January 2000)

Subject: Commission views on strictly limiting public access to policy documents

1.
Does the Commission recall the efforts made during the Finnish Council Presidency to ensure that
the best provisions on open government from individual Member States should also apply to European
Union documents?

Has the Commission taken note of the article (cid:145)EU wants document secrecy(cid:146) which appeared in the

2.
Dutch newspaper (cid:145)De Volkskrant(cid:146) on 4 January 2000?

3.
Can the Commission explain how these views tally with Article 255 of the Treaty of Amsterdam
which deals with the right of access of citizens to Council, Commission and European Parliament
documents? Specifically, documents which are:

(a) working documents and discussion papers, including those coming under the heading (cid:145)freedom of

thought(cid:146) and

(b) other documents, including all documents/reports leading to political decisions?

Does the Commission consider that,

4.
in particular after the demise of the previous Commission,
openness and transparency in dealings with citizens are of crucial importance? Does the Commission also
consider that this is a condition which must be applied if the various European Union bodies wish to be
taken seriously by the citizens of Europe?

5.
Can the Commission indicate how, with the views as expressed in the article in De Volkskrant, it
thinks it will be possible in future for organisations and individuals in society to participate fully in the
democratic decision-making process and to influence the process of European decision-making?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(2 March 2000)

The Commission has not forgotten that during the Finnish Presidency of the Council the Member States
were keen to extend to EU documents the best national provisions on open government.

It was for this reason that the Commission conducted a comparative analysis of Member States(cid:146) current
legislation on access to documents and based itself on the best practices followed in the Member States
most advanced in terms of transparency when it drew up its proposal for a Regulation implementing
Article 225 (formerly Article 191a) of the EC Treaty. This proposal was adopted by the Commission on
26 January 2000 (1).

3.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 280 E/189

The Commission is aware of the newspaper article to which the Honourable Member refers but would
point out that the criticism voiced in it related to a preliminary draft which had not been approved by the
Commission.

The Honourable Member will find that his concerns are fully met by the text of the proposal for a
Regulation on public access to Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The proposal improves
and amplifies the scope of the rules currently in force in the institutions, extending them to cover
incoming documents in their possession.

The redefinition of the proposal(cid:146)s scope in no way prevents individuals or bodies from participating in the
decision-making process or deliberations of the institutions. Such participation is indispensable to decision-
making in a democratic system.

(1) COM(00) 30 final.

(2000/C 280 E/219)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0159/00

by Carl Lang (TDI) to the Commission

(26 January 2000)

Subject: Flooding in the South of France

In reply to a question by my colleague Mr Jean-Claude Martinez (E-2395/99) (1), the Commission indicated
that no emergency aid was paid by the Community to Member States in response to natural disasters but
that it intended to provide ERDF or EAGGF appropriations for affected areas under certain conditions.

How will the Commission ensure that these notoriously bureaucratic and lengthy procedures are

1.
implemented rapidly?

How can the Commission justify excluding an affected area from such aid on the grounds that it is

2.
no longer situated in an area eligible for structural funds under the programmes for 2000-2006?

3.
Given the profound injustice of a situation in which the Commission grants emergency aid to third
countries while at the same time, refusing it to Member States of the European Union, will it remedy
matters, for example by re-entering the appropriation under an amending budget for 2000?

(1) OJ C 225 E, 8.8.2000, p. 124.

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(23 February 2000)

The Honourable Member should refer to the information memo adopted by the Commission on 12 January
2000 (1) and also to its contribution to the debate during the plenary session of Parliament in January
2000 (2).

SEC(00) 40.

(1)
(2) Debates of the European Parliament (January 2000).

(2000/C 280 E/220)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0161/00

by Ole Andreasen (ELDR) to the Commission

(26 January 2000)

Subject: Information policy

At the European Council meeting in Helsinki of 10 and 11 December 1999, it was decided that the
Commission should be invited to study the general question of the Union(cid:146)s information policy.