Decision of the Standing Committee of the EFTA States No 3/2007/SC of 6 December 2007 on public access to EFTA documents and repealing Decision No 3/2005/SC of the Standing Committee of the EFTA States
Date: 2007-12-06
Institutions: Standing Committee of the EFTA States
Subjects: EFTA, access to information, official document, provision of documents

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DECISION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE EFTA STATES

No 3/2007/SC

of 6 December 2007

on public access to EFTA documents and repealing Decision No 3/2005/SC of the Standing
Committee of the EFTA States

THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE EFTA STATES,

Having regard to Decision of the Standing Committee of the EFTA States No 3/2005/SC of 9 June 2005 on
Public Access to Documents which is hereby repealed,

Recognising the public interest of open access to documents within a clearly defined legal framework, taking
into account applicable national laws,

Having regard to the fact that, when handling requests for access to documents, the principle of openness
shall be applied to the greatest extent possible,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The EFTA Secretariat shall make available to the public by placement on its website the documents listed in
the Annex to this Decision.

Any person may request access to EEA related documents (hereinafter referred to as documents) drawn

1.
up or received by the EFTA Secretariat which are in the EFTA Secretariat’s possession.

Article 2

2.

Access to a document shall be granted unless the limitations in the following Articles apply.

1.

Access to a document shall be refused where disclosure would undermine the protection of:

Article 3

(a)

the public interest as regards: public security, defence and military matters, international relations, the
financial, monetary or economic policy of an EFTA State,

(b) privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular in accordance with the applicable national law of

the EFTA States regarding the protection of personal data.

2.

Access to a document shall be refused where disclosure would undermine the protection of:

(a) commercial interests of a natural or legal person, including intellectual property,

(b) court proceedings and legal advice,

(c)

the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits.

Access to a document, drawn up for internal use, which relates to a matter where the decision has not
3.
been taken, shall be refused if disclosure of the document would undermine the decision-making process.

4.
Access to a document containing opinions for internal use as part of deliberations and preliminary
consultations shall be refused even after the decision has been taken if disclosure of the document would
undermine the decision-making process.

5.
As regards third-party documents transmitted to the EFTA Secretariat, the EFTA Secretariat shall
consult the third party with a view to assessing whether an exception in paragraph 1 or 2 is applicable,
unless it is clear that the document shall or shall not be disclosed.

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In the cases of paragraphs 2-4 above, access shall nevertheless be granted, wholly or partly, if the

6.
EFTA States agree that an overriding public interest in disclosure exists.

An EFTA State may request the EFTA Secretariat not to disclose documents originating from that State
without its prior agreement.

Article 4

If only parts of the requested document are covered by any of the exceptions, the remaining parts of the
document shall be released.

Article 5

1.
Applications for access to a document shall be made in any written form, including electronic form, in
the English language and in a sufficiently precise manner to enable the EFTA Secretariat to identify the
document.

Article 6

2.
If an application is not sufficiently precise, the EFTA Secretariat shall ask the applicant to clarify the
application and shall assist the applicant in doing so, for example, by providing information in accordance
with Article 11.

3.
In the event of an application relating to a very long document or to a very large number of
documents, the EFTA Secretariat may confer with the applicant informally, with a view to finding a fair
solution.

An application for access to a document shall be handled promptly. An acknowledgement of receipt

1.
shall be sent to the applicant.

Article 7

2.
The EFTA Secretariat shall submit the request to the EFTA States for approval, unless it can be assured
that the EFTA States would or would not refuse access to the document. The EFTA States shall decide
without undue delay.

3.
Upon receiving the response from the EFTA States, the EFTA Secretariat shall either inform the
applicant that access to the requested document had been granted and provide access in accordance with
Article 10 or, in a written reply, state the reasons for the total or partial refusal and inform the applicant of
his or her right to refer the request to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States.

4.
If it is not possible for the EFTA Secretariat to give the applicant an answer within 12 working days
from the registration of the application, the applicant shall be informed in writing of the delay and when
the decision can be expected. The applicant shall be informed of his or her right to refer the request to the
Standing Committee of the EFTA States if he or she has not received an answer within reasonable time.

In the event of a the total or partial refusal, the applicant may, within 15 working days of receiving

5.
the EFTA Secretariat's reply, refer the request to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States.

Failure by the EFTA Secretariat to reply within reasonable time from registration of the application

6.
entitles the applicant to refer the request to the Standing Committee of the EFTA states.

A referral to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States shall be handled promptly. If access is wholly or
partly refused, this shall be communicated to the applicant in a written reply stating the reasons for the
refusal.

Article 8

The classification (Strictly confidential, Confidential, Restricted) of any given document does not in itself
exclude it from access by the public at a later stage.

Article 9

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Article 10

1.
The applicant shall have access to documents either by consulting them on the spot or by receiving a
copy, including, where available, an electronic copy. The cost of producing and sending copies may be
charged to the applicant. This charge shall not exceed the real cost of producing and sending the copies.
Consultation on the spot, copies of less than 20 A4 pages and, if available, direct access in electronic form
shall be free of charge.

If a document has already been released by the EFTA Secretariat and is easily accessible to the
its obligation of granting access to documents by informing

2.
applicant, the EFTA Secretariat may fulfil
the applicant how to obtain the requested document.

Article 11

The EFTA Secretariat shall keep a public register of documents related to the EEA Agreement drawn

1.
up by the EFTA Secretariat. The register shall be accessible through its website.

2.
For each document the register shall contain a reference number, the subject matter and/or a short
description of the content of the document and the date on which it was received or drawn up and
recorded in the register. References shall be made in a manner which does not undermine protection of
the interests in Article 3.

Documents classified as ‘Confidential’ or ‘Strictly confidential’ shall not be placed on the public register

3.
except if the EFTA States agree to the contrary.

In addition, access to a list of EEA related documents drawn up or received by the EFTA Secretariat

4.
which are in the EFTA Secretariat’s possession shall be provided upon request.

Article 12

The EFTA Secretariat shall provide information and assistance to citizens on how and where applications for
access to documents can be made.

This Decision shall be without prejudice to any existing rules on copyright which may limit a third party's
right to reproduce or exploit released documents.

Article 13

Decision No 3/2005/SC of the Standing Committee of the EFTA States of 9 June 2005 is hereby repealed.

Article 14

This Decision shall take effect as of 1 April 2008.

Article 15

Article 16

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the
European Union.

This Decision shall be subject to a review within one year from its day of effect.

Article 17

Done at Brussels, 6 December 2007.

For the Standing Committee

The Chairman

Stefán Haukur JÓHANNESSON

The Secretary General

Kåre BRYN

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ANNEX

EEA related EFTA documents to be made available to the public on the internet

EEA Agreement and related EFTA Agreements:

— Original versions of the EEA Agreement, the Surveillance and Court Agreement and the Standing Committee

Agreement

— EEA Enlargement Agreement

— Consolidated version of the EEA Agreement

— Consolidated version of the Annexes and Protocols to the EEA Agreement

— Consolidated version of the Surveillance and Court Agreement

— Consolidated version of Standing Committee Agreement

Instruments adopted by the institutions:

— Adopted Decisions of the EEA Council

— Adopted Decisions of the EEA Joint Committee

— EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee resolutions

— EEA Consultative Committee resolutions

— EFTA Consultative Committee opinions

— EEA EFTA Comment

Agendas:

— EEA Council

— EEA Joint Committee

— Subcommittees under the EEA Joint Committee (upon agreement with the Commission)

— Standing Committee of the EFTA States

— Subcommittees under the Standing Committee of the EFTA States

— Working Groups under the Standing Committee of the EFTA States

— EFTA Parliamentary Committee

— EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee

— EFTA Consultative Committee

— EEA Consultative Committee

Conclusions:

— EEA Council

— Standing Committee of the EFTA States

— Subcommittees under the Standing Committee of the EFTA States

— EEA Joint Committee (upon agreement with the Commission)

— Joint Subcommittee (upon agreement with the Commission)

Reports:

— EFTA Parliamentary Committee

— EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee

— EFTA Consultative Committee

— EEA Consultative Committee

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Information documents:
— Annual report of the EEA Joint Committee
— EFTA Chair working programme
— EEA related statistics produced by the EFTA Statistical Office
— List of adopted decisions of the EEA Joint Committee
— List of awaited notifications under Article 103
— List of Decisions of the EEA Joint Committee with constitutional requirements
— List of Celex numbers
— Lists of proposals for EC legislation marked as EEA relevant by the Community
— List adopted EC acquis marked as EEA relevant by the Community and the EC acquis already identified as EEA

relevant by the EEA EFTA experts from all EEA EFTA Member States

— Scoreboards of the Subcommittees under the EEA Joint Committee
— Press release
— EFTA Fact Sheet

EEA Financial Mechanism:
— Rules and Procedures for the EEA Financial Mechanism
— Guidelines for the EEA Financial Mechanism
— Memoranda of Understanding for the EEA Financial Mechanism

Norwegian Financial Mechanism:
— Rules and Procedures for the Norwegian Financial Mechanism
— Guidelines for the Norwegian Financial Mechanism
— Memoranda of Understanding for the Norwegian Financial Mechanism