92000E0155

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?

2. Has the Commission taken note of the article EU wants document secrecy which appeared in the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant 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 freedom of thought and

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

4. Does the Commission consider that, 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' 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).

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'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.