Secret Europe:
Reporting on openness and secrecy in the EU since 1992
Statewatch:
Observatory
on access to EU documents: 2008 - 2009 which will track and place on record
all the news, analyses and documentation concerning proposed
changes to the Regulation on access to EU documents. Updated
22 September 2008
Council
of Europe: Council
of Europe Adopts Second-rate Treaty on Access to Information:
Civil Society Groups express disappointment, call for strong
monitoring body (pdf)
Spain: Report
claims right of access to information is not fully recognised
EU: ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS - FINLAND: Commission proposals would
"constitute a backward step": Ministry
of Justice, Finland, Press Release (pdf)
"If adopted
in the proposed form, the proposal, however, would be more restrictive
than the current rules on access to documents. The Commission
proposes to exclude some document categories totally from the
scope of implementation of the Regulation. The Commission also
proposes that documents be accessible to the public only if they
are registered and meet certain technical requirements....
The Government
finds that the regulation on access to documents has worked well
on the whole and that there is no reason to change its fundamental
principles. The Commission proposal would, if adopted as such,
constitute a step backwards."
and Opinion
of the Grand Committee in the Finnish Parliament (pdf)
"The
Grand Committee emphasises that if approved, the Commission's
proposal would lead to a major reversal of the Union's transparency
and the public's access to documents. The proposal is thus in
contradiction to goals that have been repeatedly affirmed by
the European Council.
The Grand
Committee considers it worrying and reproachable that the Commission
has advanced in support of its proposal justifications that must
be considered untrue and misleading. Such conduct is liable to
weaken the Commission's public credibility."
EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Annual
report on access to documents, 2007 (pdf). The low number of visitors to
the Commission's public register of its documents - only 39,013
over the full year, 3,251 per month - tells us that it is not
seen as a useful source of documentation. Many, many documents
are not listed and of those that are many do not give access
to the text of the document. And this leads in turn to:
"The
constant increase in the number of initial applications since
the Regulation was adopted was again observed in 2007, when 4196
initial applications were registered by departments, 355 more
than in 2006."
The Commission's
failure to list all the documents its receives or produces is
the subject of a Statewatch complaint to the European Ombudsman.
European Parliament: Draft Committee report on: The
Annual Reports of the European Parliament, Commission and Council
on public access to documents (Marco Cappato MEP, pdf)
Council of Europe: Convention on access to documents: European
Parliamentarians call on Council of Europe To Redraft Substandard
Convention on Access to Official Documents (Press release, pdf):
"Strasbourg,
6 October 2008: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) on Friday (3 October 2008) adopted unanimously
a resolution expressing concern that the world’s first treaty
intended to guarantee public access to information had significant
flaws. In a rare step, PACE called for the Convention on Access
to Official Documents to be redrafted."
EU: Access
to documents in the EU: When is a “document” not a
“document”? (pdf) Analysis by Tony Bunyan.
The European
Commission has put forward a number of changes to the Regulation
on access to EU documents adopted in 2001. Controversially it
proposes to change the definition of a "document" which
in turn affect which would or would not be listed on its public
register of documents. Does this have anything to do with the
fact that the European Ombudsman has just ruled that the Commission
must abide by the existing definition of a "document"
in the Regulation and that it must list all the documents it
holds on its public register?
Freedom of Information: Updated, final version: Overview
of all 86 FOIA Countries (pdf) by Roger Vleugels
EU-FOI: European
Ombudsman Open Letter to Commissioner Wallstrom (European Voice) on access to EU documents:
"You defend the Commission’s new definition
of “document” by explaining that documents drawn up
by the institutions are documents as soon as they have been sent
to their recipients or otherwise registered. But in fact, the
Commission’s proposal does not say “sent to their recipients”,
but “formally transmitted to one or more recipients”
(my emphasis)."
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Atlanta
Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right
of Access to Information (pdf)
"We,
over 125 members of the global access to information community
from 40 countries, representing governments, civil society organizations,
international bodies and financial institutions, donor agencies
and foundations, private sector companies, media outlets and
scholars, gathered in Atlanta, Georgia from February 27-29, 2008,
under the auspices of the Carter Center and hereby adopt the
following Declaration and Plan of Action to advance the passage,
implementation, enforcement, and exercise of the right of access
to information"
EU-ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Council capitulates and agree to give
Mr Turco a document containing the Opinion of the Legal Service:
New
reply to the confirmatory application made by Mr Maurizio TURCO
(1/02) following the judgment of the Court of Justice (Grand
Chamber) in Joined Cases C-39/05 P and C-52/05 P (pdf)
MALTA-FOI: Citizens
and NGOs convened for Freedom of Information forum (link)
EU: MAJOR VICTORY FOR ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS: COURT OF FIRST
INSTANCE JUDGMENT ON ACCESS TO LEGAL OPINIONS - TURCO CASE:
"THE
COURT AUTHORISES, IN PRINCIPLE, ACCESS TO LEGAL ADVICE GIVEN
TO THE COUNCIL ON LEGISLATIVE QUESTIONS
The transparency of the legislative process and the strengthening
of the democratic rights of European citizens are capable of
constituting an overriding public interest which justifies the
disclosure of legal advice.... The Court takes the view that
disclosure of documents containing the advice of an institution’s
legal service on legal questions arising when legislative initiatives
are being debated increases transparency and strengthens the
democratic right of European citizens to scrutinise the information
which has formed the basis of a legislative act.
As regards,
first, the fear expressed by the Council that disclosure of an
opinion of its legal service relating to a legislative proposal
could lead to doubts as to the lawfulness of the legislative
act concerned, it is precisely openness in this regard that contributes
to conferring greater legitimacy on the institutions in the eyes
of European citizens and increasing their confidence in them
by allowing divergences between various points of view to be
openly debated. It is in fact rather a lack of information and
debate which is capable of giving rise to doubts in the minds
of citizens, not only as regards the lawfulness of an isolated
act, but also as regards the legitimacy of the decision-making
process as a whole. " (Court press release)
The Court's judgment
means that the Council (and the Commission) can no longer claim
blanket refusals for the opinions of their Legal Services on
legislative matters. The Court's judgment is also interesting
because it reasserted the principle of an "overriding
public interest" in allowing disclosure.
Currently the
Opinions of the Council's Legal Service on legislative matters
carries the following warning:
"This
document contains legal advice protected under Article 4(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and not released
by the Council of the European Union to the public. The Council
reserves all its rights in law as regards any unauthorised publication." [BOLD emphasis in original]
- Press
release
- Court
judgment - full-text
- Turco
press statement
EU: European Data Protection
Supervisor: Opinion
of the European Data Protection Supervisor on the Proposal for
a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding
public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents
(Press release plus Opinion, pdf)
EU: FOI-ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Statewatch Analysis June
2008: Proposal on access to documents: Article-by-Article commentary (pdf) Analysis of the
Commission's proposed changes to the Regulation on access to
EU documents (1049/2001) by Professor Steve Peers, University
of Essex.
Commissioner
Wallströms hits back at critics: ”They can’t have
read the text” (Wobbing. link). Report by by Staffan Dahllöf.
Tony Bunyan,
Statewatch editor comments: "The idea that Statewatch,
and Steve Peers who represented us at the hearing in the European
Parliament on 2 June, had not read the text is sheer nonsense.
We have worked on access to EU documents for over 15 years and
we know how the current definition of a "document"
works in practice - and it works fine. The only institution which
does not like the definition is the Commission. In response to
Statewatch's complaint to the European Ombudsman, over its failure
to put all its documents on its public register, the Commission
President repeatedly rejected the definition of a document in
the Regulation as being too wide".
European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, called on the
European Parliament (EP) to defend the European Union’s
commitment to transparency and the citizens’ right of access
to EU documents at a public hearing in the EP's LIBE Committee
(Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs), the Ombudsman said:
"The Commission's proposals would mean access to fewer,
not more, documents. This raises fundamental issues of principle
about the EU's commitment to openness and transparency."
Press
release
(pdf) and Full-text
of speech
(pdf)
EU:
UPDATE: Commission proposals to amend Regulation on access to
EU documents: Proposed
changes to the Regulation on access to EU documents - COM (2008)
229 final
(pdf) with Explanatory Memorandum and annotated text. The text
previously put online was the version circulated for the Commission
meeting on 30 April - the version that emerged and was adopted
contained a number of changes, including a different definition
of a "document". Comments
on the definition of a "document" in the Commission
proposal: Back to the age of the "dinosaurs"? by Tony Bunyan, Statewatch
editor, who comments:
"The Commission does
not like the current definition of a document so it is proposing
to change it to severely limit its scope. The current definition
of a document must be left unchanged.
Nor does the Commission like
the current Article 11 obliging it to list "without delay"
all documents on its public register - which since 2002 it has
failed to do - so the new definition of a "document"
would allow it to carry on only listing a fraction of the documents
it produces and receives. Article
11 must not be changed and must be implemented by the Commission.
At a stroke the the new era
of openness and transparency promised in the Amsterdam Treaty
would be dealt a fatal blow and we will be back in the age of
the "dinosaurs". "
Note on "dinosaurs":
The forces for secrecy in the EU - were referred to by Mr Söderman,
then the European Ombudsman, at a Conference in Brussels on 26
April 1999 as the "dinosaurs" - who under the cloak
of implementing the Amsterdam Treaty wanted to turn the clock
back so that the institutions could control what documents are
released.
EU: FOI IN THE EU: Revised and Updated: Statewatch
analysis of the proposed changes to the Regulation on access
to EU documents by Tony Bunyan with additional comments from Steve
Peers, May 2008.
EU: FOI IN THE EU: Should there be a Freedom
of Information Act for the EU? (European Citizens Action Service,pdf)
Brussels
criticised on access to documents law (euobserver, link) The
European Commission proposes to improve public access to documents
of the EU institutions (Commission press release, pdf)
Tony Bunyan,
Statewatch editor, comments:
"Mr Barroso
says "the access to document rules are working well. These
changes seek to improve the access to documents for European
citizens". While Commissioner Wallstrom says "Access
to documents is an essential tool for democracy and now we want
to improve it".
The rules
on access are not working well and these changes will takes us
several steps backwards. For example, the Commission does not
agree with the definition of a "document" in the Regulation,
so it wants to change it. The Commission's public register of
documents is a joke so now it wants to change the rules. There
would be a longer list of exceptions to refuse access, including
mandatory exceptions where applications do not even have to be
considered. And would leave in place the rule which allows the
institutions to deny access to documents on measures about to
be adopted in Brussels - a practice that would never be tolerated
at national level.
The Amsterdam
Treaty was agreed 11 years ago (1997) and was meant to herald
a new era of openness and transparency – we only got half
of the loaf and have been waiting for the other half, now the
Commission wants to takes away some of this.”
See: Statewatch
analysis of the proposals
- Viewpoint
by Tony Bunyan: More openness or just a drop in the ocean? The
need for Freedom of Information in the EU
- The
right to know or the right to try and find out? The need for
an EU freedom of information law, by Ben Hayes
- "Unaccountable
Europe"
by Tony Bunyan
Exclusive: Commission proposals to amend Regulation on
access to EU documents: Statewatch
analysis:
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
“The scope of the Commission’s amendments and its
consultation do not consider many of the fundamental questions
posed by civil society and the European Parliament.
Perhaps the most crucial is the public’s right to know what
is being discussed before it is adopted in Brussels – a
practice that would never be tolerated at national level.
Moreover, two of the Commission amendments are highly retrogressive.
The new definition of a document would mean that if an official
does not register it then it is not a “document” –
a recipe for abuse. And the obligation of institutions to give
public access to the full text of documents would be limited
to legislative measures – and not cover the hundreds of
thousands of other documents produced and received.
The Amsterdam Treaty was agreed 11 years ago (1997) and was meant
to herald a new era of openness and transparency – we are
still waiting for this to happen.”
Documentation
- Adopted version:
Explanatory
Memorandum and Annotated text
- Penultimate
version: Commission
proposals - Consolidated text
- Penultimate version: Commission
Explanatory Memorandum
- Penultimate version: Memorandum
to the Commission
- Penultimate version: Table comparing
current text to proposed changes
- Full background and documentation since 1993 is on the Statewatch
Observatory: FOI
in the EU
EU: Council of the European Union: Annual
report on access to documents, 2007 (pdf). Worthy of note is the growth
in the number of classified documents:
"350
(original language) sensitive documents were produced in the
period concerned, 26 classified as "SECRET UE" and
324 as "CONFIDENTIEL UE". Of these, 3 "SECRET
UE" document and 61 "CONFIDENTIEL UE" documents
are mentioned in the register, in accordance with Article 9(2)
and Article 11(2) of Regulation No 1049/2001."
Of the 350 classified
documents produced during the year on 64 were listed on the Council's
register of documents.
In addition,
applications were examined for access to 802 documents classified
as "RESTREINT UE" - 35,3 % concerned European Security
and Defence Policy, 28% Common Foreign and Security Policy CFSP
and 25.5% Justice and Home Affairs.
The top issue
for which documents where applied to the Council for access to
was Justice and Home Affairs: 20,1 % in 2004 to 22,5 % in 2005
and 24,5 % in 2006, reaching 26,8 % in 2007.
Council
of Europe ducks open government advocates' calls for reform;
adopts weak convention on access to information that falls short
of international standards (freedominfo, link)
Council of Europe: Access to Information Convention: Seven
Key Problems Remain in the Draft European Convention on Access
to Official Documents (pdf)
European Ombudsman: NGOs can help EU
institutions do their job better (pdf)
"The
European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has underlined
the importance of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in pointing
out possible instances of maladministration in the EU institutions.
Over the past ten years, the Ombudsman's office has received
almost 1 000 complaints from NGOs and associations. They included
alleged maladministration concerning environmental projects,
late payment for EU contracts, and lack of transparency in the
EU institutions. Among the NGOs that complained were Statewatch,
Corporate Europe Observatory, and the European Citizen Action
Service (ECAS)."
EU: European
Commission publishes Annual Report on access to documents for
2006
(pdf)
EU ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Speech
by the European Ombudsman to the Civil Liberties Committee of
the European Parliament (pdf)
EU-ECJ: Excellent opinion
today by Advocate-General Maduro, calling for the Court to annul
the Council's refusal to hand over its legal service advice relating
to the reception conditions directive: A-G
Opinion on Turco case (pdf)
EUROPEAN
OMBUDSMAN: Statewatch
wins complaint against the European Commission (full-story and documentation)
The European Ombudsman has declared a case of maladministration
against Commission for its failure to produce a 2005 annual report
on access to documents in 2006 and found it "especially
deplorable" as these reports are "a key mechanism
for accountability".
The European Ombudsman's Decision says that:
"In the
Ombudsman’s view, the reasons given by the Commission to
explain its failure, which refer to administrative and organisational
constraints, do not show that there was an objective impossibility
for the Commission to comply with its legal obligation (ultra
posse nemo obligatur)" and
"The
Ombudsman considers that the instance of maladministration revealed
by the present inquiry is especially deplorable since the publication
of reports is a key mechanism of accountability to, and communication
with, European citizens. The Commission should set a good example
to the many new Community Agencies which have recently
been established by giving high priority in future to the timely
publication of reports."
This is the first
of two complaints lodged by Statewatch against the Commission.
Previously Statewatch won eight complaints taken to the European
Ombudsman against the Council of the European Union.
EU: Statewatch
lodges two complaints against the European Commission with the
European Ombudsman (press release, full-text, pdf, 19 April 2007):
- the Commission has failed to maintain a proper public register
of documents with only a fraction of those produced listed; -
the Commission failed to produce its annual report on access
to documents for 2005 in the year 2006; - Statewatch says both
are breaches of the Regulation and therefore cases of maladministration.
EU-OMBUDSMAN:
Press
release: Information concerning MEPs' allowances should be publicly
accessible
(pdf) Ombudsman
Recommendation (pdf) Malta Today
- front page
(pdf) Malta
Today - article (pdf)
EUROPEAN COMMISSION-ECJ-API Case: Access to documents:
Judgment - full-text (pdf) Court press release (pdf) Brussels
journalists unhappy with 'routine secrecy' (euobserver, link) Statement
from API
(pdf):
"The
CFI found that the Commission does not have to give access to
pleadings before the oral hearing, but must disclose pleadings
after the hearing unless it cites a specific reason as to why
such a disclosure would prejudice its position before the Court."
EU-EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT: Liberal group (ALDE) re-launches transparency campaign
on access to documents. Marco Cappato MEP said:
"Many
documents are not on the official registers, information is often
not fully available or difficult to find whilst internal procedures
in some institutions are hard to follow."
"The
Regulation should be revised to ensure the principle of full
access to all documents. It is untenable that the Council, which
is the EU co-legislating body, still denies full access to documents
discussed in its working groups, such as amendments proposed
by Member States representatives, positions and voting records
or legal opinions which makes it impossible to follow its decision-making
process."
"The
Commission too should keep its register up to date and complete,
while the EP should further improve the publication of its activities,
such as video-streaming on the internet of its committees' debates
and enhanced transparency of first-reading agreements".
He has drafted a response to the Commission's Green Paper to
be discussed in the Committee on Covil Liberties (LIBE): Working
document
(pdf)
EU: Court
of First Instance ruling on WWF case: EU secrecy trumps openness
again
(WWF press release, link) The Council of the EU has succesfully
defended its decision not to release a paper concerning the WTO
and the environment to the World Wildlife Fund. This was the
first case which concerned the application of the exception for
the EC's 'economic interests, etc.' and following the Court's
judgment it appears that it is sufficient for a document to simply
concern the EC's external trade for the exception to apply. The
CFI clearly also distinguishes between access to information
and access to documents, clearly undermining the argument that
there is no distinction between the two - see para 76 of the
CFI
judgment
(full-text, link)
EU: Statewatch
lodges two complaints against the European Commission with the
European Ombudsman (press release, full-text, pdf - EMBARGOED until
12.00 on Thursday 19 April 2007): - the Commission has failed
to maintain a proper public register of documents with only a
fraction of those produced listed; - the Commission failed to
produce its annual report on access to documents for 2005 in
the year 2006; - Statewatch says both are breaches of the Regulation
and therefore cases of maladministration. Tony Bunyan, Director
of Statewatch, comments:
“The
European Commission is not above the law it is the custodian
of EU law, responsible for ensuring it is properly implemented.
This makes it all the more reprehensible that under the Regulation
on access to documents the Commission has failed to maintain
a proper register of documents and failed to publish an annual
report for 2005. Open, transparent and accountable decision-making
is the essence of any democratic system. Secrecy is its enemy
and produces distrust, cynicism and apathy among citizens and
closed minds among policy makers. The European Commission must
be called to account for its actions or rather its failures to
act”
Statewatch
Briefing Note
on the Commission's
Green Paper
on the Regulation on access to EU documents.
EU: European Citizens
Action Service, Statewatch, International Federation of Journalists,
European Environmental Bureau : Should there
be an EU Freedom of Information Act? (pdf) Seminar, Brussels, Thursday 19
April 2007
EU: European
Court of Justice rejects Sison appeal against denial of access
to EU documents (Judgment in case C-266/05 P, 1.2.07, pdf). The
European Court of Justice has rejected Professor Jose Maria Sison's
appeal against the EU Council's decision to refuse access to
the documents relating to his inclusion on the terrorist list.
For full background see Statewatch's
"terror lists" observatory
Statewatch's Observatory on
EU Freedom of Information - Case Law now has a list and summaries of "Pending
cases" in the Court of First Instance/European Court of
Justice. As at the end of September there were 25 cases pending.
Pending
cases list
EU-NATO: Classified information:
a) Exchange
of EU classified information (EUCI) with third countries and
organisations
(8 September 2006)
b) EU: Council
Decision adopting the Council's security regulations (28 February 2001)
c) NATO: Security
within NATO
(17 June 2002) Thanks to FOI Advocates Network
EU: European Court of Justice: The
Opinion on the Advocate-General in the case of Professor Sison (pdf) who is appealing
to get access to the documents leading to him being placed on
the EU terrorist list. The Advocate-General rejects his case.
Freedom of Information: The
Manchester Declaration (pdf) Civil Society Organisations meeting in Manchester
on the occasion of the 4th International Conference of Information
Commissioners agreed this Declaration. It is signed by 28 NGOs.
EU: Viewpoint by Tony Bunyan:
More openness or just a drop in the ocean? The need for Freedom
of Information in the EU
EU: European Ombudsman issues critical report against
the Council of the European Union which tried to hide documents
from applicant: Press
release
(pdf) Full-text
of decision
(link). Having first denied the existence of more documents than
admitted the Council claimed that due to a "clerical error"
ten other documents not been located.
The right to know or the right
to try and find out? The need for an EU freedom of information
law,
by Ben Hayes (pdf)
Spain: "Transparency and silence"
report on freedom of information throws up alarming results
European Court of Justice (ECJ): For the first
time since the Regulation on access to EU documents came into
force in December 2001 an applicant has won a case in the ECJ
against the Commission. The Court found that the Commission failed
to examine and give reasons for each of the documents refused
and failed to assess whether partial access could be given. This
decision will help other applicants for documents as it is the
Commission's habit to simply refuse documents requested by citing
a general exception to access without giving reasons of how this
applies to each document: ECJ Press release (pdf)
EU: A small victory for openness: The European
Commission has finally made available a full
list of its expert groups (2004) (pdf) and a list
of "Joint entities resulting from international agreements"
(2004)
(pdf). Press
release from Jens-Peter Bonde MEP
UK:Freedom of information - Parliament's Consitutional
Affairs Committee. Concerns about the public sector’s readiness
to comply with the new freedom of information law are today (7.12.04)
raised in a report by the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee.The
report, which provides a snapshot of public sector preparations,
warns that with less than a month to go before some 100,000 public
authorities are legally obliged to give the public a general
right of access to information, preparedness for the new freedom
of information (FoI) regime is patchy. 1) Press release 2) Full-text
of report
(pdf) 3) Full-text
of the UK Freedom of Information Act (link) 4) Campaign for
Freedom of Information (link)
EU openness: The EU's Court of First Instance has
decided that governments can veto access to documents originating
from them and submitted to an EU institution (in this case the
European Commission). Interestingly the applicant was supported
by the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, while the Commission
- in its refusal to give access - was supported by the UK. The
Court's judgement said: "the Commission was not required
to explain why the Federal Republic of Germany had made a request
under Article 4(5) of the Regulation, since there is no obligation
on the Member States to state the reasons for such a request
under that provision". Judgement (link) (1.12.04)
Statewatch Observatory on EU Freedom of
Information - Case Law: Updated (25.11.04)
(19.11.04) Council agrees levels of security
co-operation with third States and international organisations (14400/04)
European Court of Justice -
EU "terrorist" list: Professor Sison case on access
to documents goes to court
BUDVA
DECLARATION: Declaration of Regional Seminar on Freedom of Information
Budva, Montenegro, 9-10 September 2004. Participants in the Budva
Regional Seminar on Freedom of Information discussed international
standards for the right of access to information, in particular
the legitimate exemptions to the release of information. The
challenges of implementation of FOI laws were also discussed,
including the need for training, awareness raising, litigation:
Budva Declaration
(pdf)
Denmark: Breakthrough in access to agricultural
EU subsidies information: Denmark (link)
UNESCO have published a: "Comparative legal
survey on Freedom of information": UNESCO Survey (pdf)
European Court of Justice: Access to documents
decision against the European Commission and the Council of the
European Union: Press
release
Building the new security regime - the EU-NATO-USA
politico-military axis: EU agrees to exchange of classified documents
on "crisis operations" including justice and home affairs
issues: Report
and documentation
EU annual reports on access to documents - still
a very long way to go: Report
- less than 50%
of Council documents available to citizens
- European Commission's register of documents "a disgrace"
- speech by Tony Bunyan to the European Parliament
"It is ten years since the Code on access to Council
and Commission documents was introduced in 1993 and it is six
years since Article 255 in the Amsterdam Treaty allegedly "enshrined"
the citizens' right of access. Yet even now less than 50% of
the contents of documents on the Council's public register have
been released and the Commission's public register is absolutely
useless. How much longer are we going to have to wait for freedom
of information in the EU?"
EU cements deal with NATO on exchange of documents:
Report
European Parliament: Public Hearing: EU transparency
- access to documents: does it work? Programme
Transparency in the European Union still problematic:
Report
Statewatch openness case leads to landmark decision
- Council agrees to keep copies of all documents and to list
them in "Outcomes" (Minutes): Report
European Journalists support Irish fight to maintain
open government: Report
Irish
Council for Civil Liberties condemn government changes to freedom
of information law: Report
(link)
On 12 February 2003 the Swiss Federal Council (government)
submitted a draft for a new law on freedom of information to
parliament. The text of the draft is available on:
http://www.ofj.admin.ch/themen/oeffprinzip/bot-d.pdf (german)
http://www.ofj.admin.ch/themen/oeffprinzip/bot-f.pdf (french)
European Ombudsman: Council tells student that
legal opinion on openness should stay secret: Report
Mystery document appears
on EU Council register: Report
"Secrecy and Openness
in the European Union" by
Tony Bunyan - a new case study from freedominfo.org: Press
release
European Ombudsman calls on Commission
to clarify data protection rules: Report
Denied EU document reveals issues of
public interest: document refused on grounds it concerned the
"campaign against terrorism" contains further far-reaching
proposals on surveillance, particularly of immigrants, including:
"preventive information gathering": Report
European Ombudsman's Annual Report: Report Sections on Statewatch's
cases against the Council of the European Union (the 15 governments)
on access to documents: Statewatch (pdf)
European Ombudsman: EU Commission secrecy
around Transatlantic Business Dialogue is "Maladministration":
Report (updated 18.7.02)
26 July 2000 - the day of the infamous
"Solana Decision"
- how did
Mr Solana reply to a letter he had not received? Report
Statewatch complaints against the Council on access
to documents goes before the European Parliament: Report
Very interesting site with lots of data
on freedom of information in EU states:link
26 July 2000 - the day of the infamous
"Solana Decision" - the Solana/Robertson exchange of
letters: Report
European Ombudsman publishes code on
administrative behaviour: Report
Council of the European Union disagrees
on giving access to the public of positions taken by EU governments:
Report
US government vetoes
Statewatch access to EU-US agendas: Report
- Council of European
Union says it has no choice but to back US veto
- Refusal of access follows two successful complaints to the
European Ombudsman
- Decision would exclude from access any document on international
policy vetoed by third parties
New EU Regulation on
access to documents: Report
- the first major
problem is going to be what will, and what not, be on the public
registers of documents
- the second will be the exclusion of "internal documents"
- the third will be the right of "third parties" (like
the US) to veto access to EU documents
European Ombudsman calls on the European
Parliament to take action on the Council's failure to release
documents to Statewatch: Report (5.12.01)
European Commission publishes
new security rules before its rules on the public's right of
access to its documents: Report
The new Regulation of
public access to EU documents comes into operation on 3 December
2001
1.The
new Regulation (1049/2001) on access to documents (pdf file)
2.
Council's
new Rules of Procedure (adopted
29 November)
3. European
Parliament report amending its rules of procedure (adopted 13 November)
The UK House of Lords Select Committee
on the European Union has produced a report on the "Solana
Decision" of July 2000: House
of Lords report
European Parliament takes Council to
court for failure to consult over new (NATO) classification code
- the "Solana Two Decision": Report Full-text: EU/NATO:
Security
Regulations
(Word 97) Security
Regulations
(pdf)
Statewatch
wins new complaints against the Council of the European Union:
European Ombudsman decides access must be given to the agendas
of the EU-US Senior Level Group and the EU-US Task Force: Decision
Statewatch launches Freedom of Information
in the EU site with all the background news and
documents on access to documents plus a new Observatory on case
law: FOI
EU openness: Heidi Hautala MEP claims victory in secrecy court
case: Opinion
of the Advocate General
The first seminar on the
new Regulation on access to EU documents is being organised by
the Academy of European Law in Trier, Germany and Statewatch:
Seminar
Final version of the new EU code of access to documents: Netherlands court case withdrawn &
European Parliament negotiating over access to classified documents:
New
Regulation
Final "compromise"
text adopted by the European Parliament (3.5.01) and the Council
of the European Union (14.5.01): Full-text
Postcript to the vote
on the new code of access to EU documents - "Call for an
Open Europe" to continue: Postcript updated 16.5.01
European Parliament votes in favour of
"deal" with the Council on access to EU documents -
campaign for an open and democratic Europe to continue: EP
vote
Leading
civil society groups send "Open letter" to all MEPs
asking them to reject the "deal" on access to EU documents
on 3 May: "Open
letter"
"Call
for an Open Europe":
over two hundred sign up
Support for openness:
from 72 individuals and organisations across the EU
Full-text of Commission's original proposal
and the amendments to it by the European Parliament (to be discussed
on 2-3 May) which represents, when combined, the proposed new
Regulation on public access to EU documents: Observatory
"Brussels
stitch-up" agreed
- Council, Commission
and EP Committee agree "compromise/common text"
- Civil society groups reject "deal" between Council
and European Parliament
Press release: "OPEN LETTER from civil society on the new code of
access to documents of the EU institutions" (23.4.01)
New code on access to EU documents: "Brussels
stitch-up" on the cards Updated 23 April
- Council and EP rapporteurs agree "common text"
- Civil society groups reject "deal" between Council
and European Parliament
New Council draft code undermines current
rights of access: New draft
European Federation of
Journalists call for an end to secret negotiations and a "fresh
start" on the new code of access to EU documents: "Fresh
start"
Validity of secret "trilogue"
meetings over new code of access to EU documents thrown into
question: Report
Council Decisions: 1)
gives EU member states a "veto" over access to documents
2) new Solana classification code will "contaminate"
access: Decisions
Hautala v. Council: Partial access to documents:
News
online
Statewatch wins two new
complaints: European Ombudsman decision breaches "space
to think": European
Ombudsman
"UK parliament report slams the
"Solana Decision" on access to EU documents: Report
"Trilogue"
talks start again - call by civil society groups for an end to
secret negotiations: Trilogue II
Article by Tony Bunyan,
Statewatch editor, in European Voice: No
freedom of information in the EU
"Trilogue"
discussions collapse with no agreement - 1st May deadline will
not be met: Trilogue
Seminar on access to
EU documents, 27 February, Brussels: Seminar
ECAS press release on
new code of access: EU
transparency in muddied waters
New draft shows how far
the EU is from real freedom of information: New draft
EU institutions to hold
"trilogue" meetings
to try and sort a "compromise"
on their different versions of the new code of access: trilogue (news,
22.1.01)
The European Federation
of Journalists and Statewatch have launched a "Call
for an Open Europe" on access to EU documents which includes
"Our code", a code of access to documents for civil
society: "Call"
New
draft (dated 18.12.00) of Council's common position leaves the
incoming Swedish Presidency with a difficult job: New draft
Chair of EP Committee
attacks Council's draft common position on access: Watson
letter
"Solana Decision" extended to cover justice and home affairs, trade
and aid: "Solana
Two Decision"
Survey shows which EU
governments back openness, which do not: Openness survey (29.11.00)
Statewatch News online:
"Solana
Decision" back on the agenda (27.11.00)
European Parliament "has
ignored civil society" plus full-text of the report adopted: Report
European Federation of
Journalists publishes
"Essays for an Open Europe", which argue that civil society needs
to join in the debate on access to EU documents: Essays
UK
House of Commons Select Committee on European Scrutiny report
on access to EU documents: Report
(21.11.00)
European Parliament adopt
report on access to EU documents - but what happened to citizens'
rights?: EP
vote, where now?
European Parliament
to vote on report on access to documents on Thursday. Full list
of amendments, voting list and analysis: EP vote
European Parliament
report on access to EU documents in need of radical amendment
- parliament to adopt first reading position on Thursday in Strasbourg:
Report,
critique and documents
Reports on EU access to documents carried on Statewatch
News online - please check this page for the latest news:
The European Parliament
has formally decided to take the Council of the European Union
to court over the "Solana Decision": Green/EFA
press release Council offer deal to head off
court action by EP:
Compromise
deal
A detailed analysis by
Statewatch shows that the European Commission and the Council
want less access to documents than at present: Analysis
Germany and France lead
fight for more secrecy by EU governments and UK sits on the fence
- Council's position on access to documents even worse than the
Commission's: Council
Sweden Swedish
government decided (28.9.00) to back Netherlands court case
Finland : the Finnish government to back the Netherlands
in their court case
Netherlands
to take EU to court
the Netherlands government
decides (22.9.00) to take the Council of the European Union to
court over the "Solana Decision"
EP
Court action The European Parliament votes to
take to take the Council to court over the "Solana/NATO
Decision
Press
release: Green/EFA group in EP
Opinion "Opinion" article in the Irish Times
(23.9.00)
NATO
letter Snub to European Parliament reveals
more NATO demands
MEPs
demand action EP decision with full-text documents
Solana's
coup imposes EU security state: EU governments
adopt the "NATO/Solana" amendments to the Decision
on public access to documents (14.8.00) and it came into effect
on 23 August:
Text of the
Decision
Analysis The 1993 Decision as now amended
by the Decision of 14 August 2000
Classified documents Council Decision of 19 December
1999 overturned
International Federation of Journalists: "Journalists condemn
"Summertime Coup": IFJ
The UK parliament issues
critical report on Commission's proposal: Report
Background document to "Solana Decision" released: Council Security Plan
EP's position on access: 1st reading
report Statewatch proposed
amendments to it
Analysis of the Commission
and Council's position on new code of access to EU documents
which shows that both institutions want more secrecy and less
access than at present: Analysis
Text of speech by Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor,
to the "hearing" in the European Parliament on 18 September
2000 on the new measure on public access to EU documents: Talk
Netherlands to take Council to court over "Solana Decision"
Netherlands MEPs demand action on
"Solana/NATO" Decision, calls for the European Parliament
to take the Council to court: EP to take legal action?
Amendments to the 1993 Decision on public
access to documents agreed by "written procedure" on
14 August in advance of the Amsterdam Treaty measure: see Statewatch
News online: New
access decision For background to the Decision see: Solana coup
The Commission
has circulated a revised version of its proposal for public access
to documents which contains a significant change from the original:
Revised
Commission proposal 22.2.00
NEW STATEWATCH
COMPLAINTS TO THE EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN OVER ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS
Statewatch has
taken two new complaints to against the EU Council of Ministers
over access to documents to the European Ombudsman: Press
Release 10.7.00
NEWS, DEVELOPMENTS
& DEBATES
Statewatch's suggested amendments to the Commission's proposal
on the public's right of access to EU documents: Amendments
Online debate organised
by Die Zeit between Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor,
and Mary Preston, of the European Commission, on the proposed
regulation on public access to EU documents: The
debate
The European Environmental Bureau
(EEB), which represents 135 environmental citizens organisations,
has prepared a critique of the Commission's proposal, see: EEB
The "debate" between
Mr Soderman and Mr Prodi: Mr Soderman/Mr
Prodi
THE NEW PROPOSED
REGULATION ON PUBLIC ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
Regulation of public
access to documents adopted by the Commission on 26 January:
Commission proposal for a regulation
on public access to documents
Second draft of
Commission's Regulation leaked to Statewatch: 29.11.99
First draft of Commission's
Regulation: 22.10.99.
THE EUROPEAN
COMMISSION's UNPUBLISHED CONSULTATION PAPERS ON THE PROPOSED
REGULATION
The two drafts
of the Commission's unpublished "communication", dated
22.1.99 and 23.4.99
THE CURRENT
CODES OF ACCESS TO DOCUMENT FROM THE COUNCIL and COMMISSION which
were adopted in December 1993
The current Codes governing
access to documents were adopted in December 1993. Their operation
has been greatly improved by challenges in the Court of Justice
and complaints to the European Ombudsman by NGOs, MEPs, journalists
and academics:
The Code used by
the Commission: Commission code
The Code used by
the Council: Council code
Statement by the
European Federation of Journalists on the proposed regulation:
EFJ
Statewatch analysis
of the proposed measure: Statewatch analysis
Statewatch does not have a corporate
view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are
those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content
of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute
an endorsement.
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