Commissie Burgelijke Vrijheden: openbaarheid EU-documenten vergroten (en)

No legislative documents should be kept secret: this must be a basic principle of the reformed policy on access to documents, say members of the Civil Liberties Committee in a vote on a new EU rules on the issue.

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  A more transparent system of information for the public
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  A common interface for registers of documents
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  MEPs must have access to documents classed as secret
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  A register of lobbyists

Members of the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday adopted their report, drafted by Michael Cashman (PES, UK), by 26 votes to 5 with 15 abstentions. The European Parliament is working in co-decision with the Council of Ministers to revise the 2001 regulation on access to documents, which has been followed by a number of rulings by the Court of Justice.  The revised regulation will incorporate these rulings into a single framework for all the institutions, but MEPs want to go further.

In its report, the committee includes amendments clarifying the term "document", defining it as any data or content, whatever its medium, concerning a matter relating to the policies, activities and decisions falling within the institution's sphere of responsibility.  MEPs also make a distinction between legislative and non-legislative documents: the former should always be available to the public and may not be kept secret on the grounds that this could undermine the decision-making process of the institutions.

Transparency in Member States too

Documents originating from a Member State and received by the EU institutions should also be disclosed. And Member States should ensure that their citizens enjoy at least the same degree of transparency as that provided at EU level, say MEPs.

A common EU website

The committee added an article on legislative transparency, stating that these documents must be available on an interinstitutional website.  Preparatory documents, impact studies, legal opinions and other documents must also be published.

"EU classified": a new category of documents

MEPs have also devised a scale for classifying documents, from "EU restricted" to "EU top secret", for documents whose unauthorised disclosure could harm the interests of the European Union or its Member States.  Reasons must be given why access to a document is refused. And documents on legislative procedures must not be classified, say MEPs.

Exceptions shall only apply for the period during which protection is justified and may only apply for 30 years, unless the exception relates to the privacy or integrity of the individual.

International agreements

International accords on the sharing of confidential information concluded in the name of the EU (such as the agreement with the USA on passenger name records or "PNR"), must not give a non-EU country or an international organisation the right to prevent the European Parliament from accessing confidential information.

A register of lobbyists

An interinstitutional register of lobbyists should also be set up, and the names, titles and functions of the lobbyists should be made public, as should those of EU officials, unless this information would affect the privacy or integrity of the individual.

A special oversight committee made up of MEPs should be set up and should have access to classified documents.  Each directorate-general of every institution should designate a person responsible for ensuring that the regulation is properly implemented.

Lastly, requests for paper copies of documents must be processed within 15 days, as compared to the 30 days suggested in the initial proposal.

Plenary vote: April, Strasbourg

17/02/2009

Chair : Gérard Deprez (ALDE, BE)