Bureau Decision on public access to European Parliament documents
Date: 2001-11-28
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Parliament, access to information, document, provision of documents

29.12.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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I

(Information)

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

BUREAU DECISION ON PUBLIC ACCESS TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DOCUMENTS

(2001/C 374/01)

THE BUREAU,

HEREBY DECIDES:

Having regard to Article 255(2) and (3) of the EC Treaty,

the
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of
European Parliament and of
the Council of 30 May 2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents, and in particular Articles 11, 12 and
18 thereof,

Having regard to Rules 22(2), 171(1) and 172 and Annex VII of
the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure,

Whereas the general principles governing access to documents
have been established, in accordance with Article 255(2) of the
EC Treaty, by Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 255(3) of the EC Treaty
the
and Article 18(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
European Parliament adapted its Rules of Procedure by
decision of 13 November 2001;

Whereas pursuant to Rule 172(2), (3) and (4) of the European
Parliament’s Rules of Procedure the Bureau is required to adopt
rules establishing a register of references to documents, laying
down arrangements for access and determining the authorities
in charge of handling such documents;

Whereas the Bureau decisions of 10 July 1977 on public access
to European Parliament documents and of 17 April 1998 on
fees to be paid for delivery of documents were repealed by the
abovementioned European Parliament decision of 13 November
2001;

Whereas the measures relating to the system of fees for the
issue of documents must be brought
into line with the
provisions of Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, in
order to specify the additional costs to be paid by the applicant
for the issue of very large documents;

TITLE I

REGISTER OF REFERENCES

Article 1

Creation

In accordance with Article 11(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1.
1049/2001 and Rule 172(3) of
the Rules of Procedure, a
register of references shall be established within the European
Parliament.

The register of

references thus created shall contain
2.
references
received by the
European Parliament as from the date from which Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 is applicable (3 December 2001).

to documents drawn up or

3.
These references shall constitute the (cid:145)document’s identity
papers(cid:146) which contain not only the data required by Article
11(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, but also, as far as
possible, references allowing the originating authority of each
document, the available languages, the status of the document,
the category of the document and the place of storage of the
document to be identified.

Article 2

Objectives

The register of references shall be structured so as to allow:

(cid:151) use of a uniform reference system,

(cid:151) direct

access

to documents,
documents, in electronic form,

in particular

legislative

(cid:151) identification of documents which cannot be accessed elec-

tronically,

(cid:151) searches for documents which are not adequately identified

by applicants,

(cid:151) the identification of documents in respect of which public
access is subject to the limits laid down in Articles 4 and 9
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,

Whereas the measures relating to the register of European
Parliament documents should be brought together in a single
decision with a view to facilitating transparency for citizens,

(cid:151) recording of confidential documents,

in compliance with
the limits laid down in Article 9 of the above Regulation.

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Article 3

Operation

The service responsible for managing the register of references
shall:

(cid:151) monitor the recording of documents drawn up or received

by the European Parliament,

(cid:151) receive applications for access in written or electronic form
and keep a calendar with a view to compliance with the
time-limit for reply of 15 working days,

(cid:151) send out acknowledgements of receipt,

Any document received by the European Parliament from
5.
a third party within the meaning of Article 3 of Regulation
(EC) No 1049/2001 shall be forwarded by the official mail
service to the register of references, which shall enter it,
is a sensitive document, within the meaning of
unless it
Article 9 of
for which compliance
with the time limits prescribed in that article is required.

the above Regulation,

Article 5

Documents directly accessible

All documents drawn up or received by the European
1.
Parliament under the legislative procedure must be accessible
to citizens in electronic form, subject to the limits laid down in
Articles 4 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

(cid:151) assist applicants so as to clarify the content of

their

applications,

2.
In this connection, the European Parliament will make all
legislative documents accessible through the register, to enable
citizens to have access to the full texts of documents.

(cid:151) assist

applicants with access

to documents

already

published,

(cid:151) forward applications for access to the service responsible or
authorised person when the application relates
to a
document not recorded in the register or a document
subject to the limits laid down in Articles 4 and 9 of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,

(cid:151) confer with applicants where applications relate to very

long or complex documents.

3.
The European Parliament will make this register elec-
tronically accessible on the Europarl website and provide
on-line assistance to citizens concerning arrangements for
submitting applications for access to documents.

4.
Other documents, in particular documents relating to the
drafting of policy or strategy, shall be made directly accessible
as far as possible.

Article 4

Registration of documents

5.
The categories of documents that are directly accessible
shall be set out in a list adopted by the European Parliament
and annexed to its Rules of Procedure. Documents not included
on that list will be accessible on written request.

1.
Any document drawn up by the European Parliament
shall be entered in the register of references as soon as
possible. The Secretary-General
the necessary
internal implementing measures to ensure that all documents
drawn up by the European Parliament are recorded.

shall adopt

2.
In this connection, European Parliament documents, as
defined by Rule 172(2) of the European Parliament’s Rules of
Procedure, shall be recorded in the register of references under
the responsibility of the body or service which is the originator
of the document.

3.
Documents drawn up under the legislative procedure or
for the purposes of parliamentary business shall be entered in
the register as soon as they have been tabled or made public.

Other documents which fall within the remit of

the
4.
administrative services of
the European
Parliament shall, as far as possible, be entered in the register
of references as soon as authorised by the originating service.

the Secretariat of

Article 6

Documents accessible on request

Documents drawn up or

1.
received by the European
Parliament outside the legislative procedure shall, as far as
through the
possible, be directly accessible
register, subject to the limits laid down in Articles 4 and 9
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

to citizens

2. Where entry of a document in the register of references
does not permit direct access to the full text, either because the
document is not available in electronic form or because the
exceptions provided for in Articles 4 and 9 of Regulation (EC)
No 1049/2001 are applicable, the applicant may apply for
access to the document in writing, or using the electronic
form available on the Europarl website. The European
Parliament may either grant access to the document or give
the reasons for its total of partial refusal in writing.

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Documents drawn up or

received by the European
3.
Parliament before the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 and therefore not available on the register of
references, shall be accessible on written request, subject to
the limits laid down in Articles 4 and 9 of the above Regu-
lation.

2. When the application relates to a document drawn up by
the European Parliament to which one of the exceptions laid
down in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is
applicable, the service responsible for the register of references
shall contact the service or body that is the originator of the
document, which shall suggest the course of action to be taken
within five working days.

Article 7

Storage of documents

1.
the
All documents shall be saved in the archives of
database of the register of references. This database, which
the documents drawn up by the European
contains all
Parliament, shall forward a copy of the data and documents
to the European Parliament’s historical archives (ARCDOC).

2.
Until the database responsible for archiving documents to
be entered in the register is operational, the service responsible
for the register will use the European Parliament’s existing
systems and databases and will confine itself to establishing
in order to extract the necessary data
links with the latter,
and make the full texts of documents accessible.

TITLE II

INITIAL APPLICATIONS

Article 8

Submission of the initial application

Applications

1.
to a European Parliament
document may be made in writing or in electronic form in
one of the languages listed in Article 314 of the EC Treaty.

access

for

3. When the doubt as to disclosure concerns documents
from third parties, the European Parliament shall consult the
latter giving them five working days in which to make their
position known with a view to assessing whether one of the
exceptions laid down in Articles 4 or 9 of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 is applicable.

4. When the application for access
submitted to the
European Parliament concerns a document which has not yet
been made public by the originating institution, the European
Parliament
the
document five working days in which to express any reser-
vations regarding disclosure of the document.

shall give the institution responsible for

If no reply is received within five working days,

5.
European Parliament shall carry on with the procedure.

the

Article 10

Processing of applications in electronic form

to the

Any application submitted in electronic form shall be
1.
forwarded
European
Parliament’s website, as far as possible using the electronic
form provided and the on-line help system created to facilitate
submitting applications of this kind.

indicated on the

address

Applications

2.
shall be made in a sufficiently precise
manner and in particular contain information enabling the
document or documents requested to be identified and the
name and address of the applicant.

Applications in electronic form sent

2.
to the European
Parliament’s website (Europarl) shall be forwarded automatically
to the service responsible for the register of references for
registration and further action.

If an application is not sufficiently precise, the European
3.
Parliament shall ask the applicant to clarify it and shall assist
him or her in doing so.

An application received in electronic form and containing
3.
all the necessary information required by Article 8 of
this
Decision shall automatically trigger the sending of the acknowl-
edgement of receipt to the applicant.

The applicant is not obliged to state the reasons for the

4.
application.

4.
The procedures laid down in Articles 9(2) et seq. of this
Decision for the processing of initial applications submitted in
writing shall also apply to applications submitted in electronic
form.

Article 9

Processing of written applications

An application for access to a document held by the
1.
European Parliament shall be sent on the same day as it is
registered by the official mail service to the service responsible
for managing
references, which must
acknowledgd receipt of
the application, draft a reply and
deliver the document within the prescribed time limit.

register of

the

Article 11

Deadline for reply

1. Within a time limit of 15 working days from the regis-
tration of
the
register of
to the requested
document and shall supply it within the same time limit.

the application,
references

the service responsible for

shall grant access

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2. Where the European Parliament is unable to grant access
to the requested document,
it shall notify the applicant in
writing of
the grounds for its total or partial refusal and
inform the applicant of his or her right to make a confirmatory
application.

In this case the applicant will have 15 working days from

3.
receiving the reply to make a confirmatory application.

In exceptional cases, where an application relates to a
4.
very long document or a large number of documents,
the
time limit provided for in paragraph 1 of this article may be
extended by 15 working days, provided the applicant is notified
in advance and that detailed reasons are given.

Failure by the European Parliament to reply within the
to make a

5.
prescribed time limit shall entitle the applicant
confirmatory application.

6.
The time limit of 15 working days laid down by Article 7
of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 shall start to run from the
date of registration of the initial application.

Article 12

Competent authority

1.
Initial applications sent to the European Parliament shall
be handled by the Secretary-General under the authority of the
President and the Vice-President responsible for supervision of
the handling of applications for access to documents, as
provided for by Rule 172(6) of
the European Parliament’s
Rules of Procedure.

Favourable replies to initial applications shall be sent to
2.
the applicant by the Secretary-General himself or by his
delegate.

Refusal of an initial application, with a statement of the
3.
reasons,
shall be decided by the Secretary-General on a
proposal from the service or body that is the originator of
shall be
the document. Any decision to deny access
forwarded to the Bureau of
for
information.

the European Parliament

The Secretary-General may,

4.
an
application to the Legal Service and/or the officer responsible
for data protection.

any time,

refer

at

TITLE III

CONFIRMATORY APPLICATIONS

Article 13

Submission

1.
Confirmatory applications may be sent to the European
Parliament in writing or in electronic form within 15 working
days, either from receipt of the total or partial refusal of access
to the document requested, or in the absence of any reply to
the initial application.

Confirmatory applications must be made in accordance
2.
with the formal requirements laid down in Article 8 of this
Decision.

Article 14

Processing

applications

Confirmatory

1.
in
accordance with the arrangements laid down in Articles 9(1)
and 10(2) of this Decision for applications in writing or in
electronic form.

registered

shall

be

The register of references shall

forward an acknowl-
2.
edgement of
the
procedures laid down in Articles 9 and 10 of this Decision,
with a view to preparing the European Parliament’s reply.

to the applicant and shall start

receipt

3. Within 15 working days of registration of the application,
the European Parliament
to the
document or notify the applicant in writing of the reasons
for its total or partial refusal.

shall either grant access

In exceptional cases, where an application relates to a
4.
very long document or a large number of documents,
the
time limit provided for in the previous paragraph may be
is
extended by 15 working days, provided the applicant
notified in advance and that detailed reasons are given.

Article 15

Competent authority

The reply to any confirmatory application shall be a

1.
matter for the Bureau of the European Parliament.

On a proposal

from the Secretary-General,

the Vice-
2.
President
the handling of
applications for access to documents shall submit a proposal
for a decision to the Bureau.

responsible for

supervision of

3.
In this connection, the Secretary-General will refer the
matter to the Legal Service and/or the officer responsible for
data protection, who shall give an opinion within three
working days.

4.
In order to meet the binding time limit for reply of 15
working days laid down by Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No
the Bureau may delegate the decision on any
1049/2001,
confirmatory application to the Vice-President responsible for
supervision of
the handling of applications for access to
documents.

Article 16

Remedies

1. Where the European Parliament totally or partially refuses
to grant access to a document, it shall inform the applicant of
instituting court
the remedies open to him or her, namely:
proceedings
a
complaint
laid
down in Articles 230 and 195 of the EC Treaty.

Institution
the
to the Ombudsman, under

and/or making
the conditions

against

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Failure to reply within the prescribed time limit is to be
2.
regarded as a negative response and will entitle the applicant to
bring an action or complaint under the conditions set out in
the previous paragraph.

TITLE IV

REGISTRATION OF AND ACCESS TO SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS

Article 17

Registration

The registration of documents classified as

sensitive
1.
within the meaning of Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001 from institutions,
States,
non-member countries or international organisations shall be
subject to the prior agreement of the originating authority.

agencies, Member

In this

connection,

2.
the originating authority of a
document classified as sensitive shall forward the document
directly to the President of the European Parliament through
the most appropriate channel, so as to ensure the confiden-
tiality of the contents of the document.

Any transmission of a sensitive document must be
3.
accompanied by a statement of the position of the originating
authority with regard to authorisation for registration and
disclosure of the document.

4.
If the originating authority agrees that such a document
may be recorded in the European Parliament’s register of
references,
to decide
it shall be a matter for the President
which references may appear in the register of references.
The President shall consult the Vice-President responsible for
supervising the handling of
to
documents, the Secretary-General or, where appropriate, the
chairman of the committee concerned.

applications

access

for

5.
Any document drawn up by the European Parliament
referring to a document classified as sensitive within the
meaning of Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 will
be recorded and released only with the authorisation of the
President. The references attributed to such a document will be
determined under
in the previous
the conditions set out
paragraph.

6. Where one of the institutions expresses doubts as to the
confidential nature of documents received by the European
Parliament, the mater shall be referred to the interinstitutional
committee established by Article 15(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1049/2001.

Article 18

Processing of applications for access

in accordance with the arrangements laid down in Article 9(1)
or Article 10(2) of this Decision.

forward applications

The Secretary-General

for
shall
2.
access to sensitive documents to the President. The reply to
an application, at either the initial application or confirmatory
application stage, shall be a matter for the Bureau, which may
delegate it to the President, pursuant to Rule 22(10) of the
European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure. In such cases, the
President shall consult the Vice-President responsible for super-
vising the handling of applications for access to documents, the
Secretary-General or, where appropriate, the chairman of the
committee concerned.

3.
The time limit of 15 working days laid down in Articles 7
and 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 shall start to run from
confirmatory
the date of
application.

registration of

initial or

the

Article 19

Authorised persons

The persons authorised to acquaint themselves with sensitive
documents are: the President of the European Parliament, the
Vice-President responsible for supervision of the handling of
applications for access to documents,
the
committee directly concerned and the Secretary-General,
unless agreements with the other
institutions provide for
special authorisation.

the chairman of

Article 20

Protection of sensitive documents

Sensitive documents, within the meaning of Article 9 of
1.
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, shall be subject
to strict
security rules so as to ensure their confidential handling
within the European Parliament.

In this connection,

2.
draft rules to the Bureau,
agreements with the Commission and the Council.

the Secretary-General shall submit
taking account of contacts and

The proposal adopted by the Bureau will be submitted to
3.
the Plenary for approval, and the text thus adopted will be
annexed to the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

TITLE V

ISSUE OF DOCUMENTS

Article 21

Issue

1.
Any application for access to a sensitive document within
the meaning of Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,
submitted in writing or in electronic form, shall be registered

1.
Documents are to be supplied in the form of a copy, or
in electronic format, with full regard to the applicant’s pref-
erence.

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If a document has already been released by the European
2.
Parliament or by another institution and is easily accessible, the
European Parliament may grant access to the document by
informing the applicant how to obtain the requested document.

Article 22

Cost of the reply

The cost of producing and sending copies may be
1.
charged to the applicant. This charge may not exceed the
real cost of the operation.

2.
Consultation on the spot, copies of less than 20 A4 pages
and direct access in electronic form or through the register
shall be free of charge.

Article 23

Applications for very large documents

The issuing of documents exceeding 20 A4 pages shall be

1.
subject to a fee of EUR 10, plus EUR 0,030 per page.

The amount of this fee may be revised by a decision of
2.
the Bureau of the European Parliament on a proposal from the
Secretary-General.

3.
Expenses relating to other means of transmission shall be
decided by the Secretary-General but may not exceed the real
cost of the operation.

Article 24

Additional translation costs

Where translation into a language other than those available is
requested by the applicant, the existing freelance rates applied
by the European Parliament to external translations shall apply.

TITLE VI

APPLICATION

Article 25

Application

This Decision shall apply with due regard for and without
prejudice to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001
and of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

Article 26

Review

This Decision shall be reviewed two years after its entry into
the European
force. To this end,
Parliament
submit a report on the implementation
thereof.

the Secretary-General of

shall

Article 27

Entry into force

In the event of

4.
successive applications
repeated or
concerning very long documents or a large number of
documents,
the European Parliament may confer with the
applicant informally with a view to finding a solution.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its publi-
cation in the Official Journal of the European Communities. The
register of references established by this Decision shall take
effect on 3 June 2002.

5.
Published documents are not covered by this Decision
and shall continue to be subject to their own pricing system.

Done at Brussels, 28 November 2001.

For the Bureau

President

Nicole FONTAINE