| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric |
|---|---|
| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning |
| Series Title | In Focus |
| Series Details | 24.9.00 |
| Publication Date | 24/09/2000 |
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus |
|
Changes to Council Decision 93/731/EC on public access to Council documents were adopted by the Council in August 2000. The move could deny access to a wide range of documents concerning justice and home affairs, aid and trade - on grounds of security and defence. With Parliament pressing for court proceedings to be taken against the Council, an EP seminar considered the implications for democracy, transparency and openness. Background Council Decision 93/731 on public access to Council documents was adopted in December 1993 after the Treaty on European Union committed the EU to greater openness. It was amended in 1996 by Council Decision 96/705. The Decision is considered by some groups not to provide sufficient access to Council documents, and its limitations have been challenged - often successfully - in the European Court of Justice. In recent years, openness and transparency has become a significant issue for the EU institutions (for background information, see In Focus 28 January 2000:
The Commission was responsible for drafting appropriate legislation on the right of access to documents for all three institutions specified in Article 255 - Parliament, Council and Commission. The proposed legislation must be adopted before 1 May 2001. To the dismay of many, the Commission did not - as had been expected - undertake any significant public consultations prior to adopting its proposal for a Regulation in January 2000. Prior to the summer recess, Rapporteurs were appointed to the four Parliamentary Committees charged with drafting Opinions on the proposed Regulation. A seminar ('Access to Documents of the EU Institutions: the Key to a more Democratic and Efficient Union') was organised by Parliament to 'provide an overview of the general principles which should apply to the right of access to documents as well as the scope of Article 255 and the regulation proposed by the Commission to implement that article'. The lead Committee is Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, with Michael Cashman acting as Rapporteur. An unofficial version [pdf] of the Cashman Report was made available for the seminar on 19 September: Amendments for the draft report and draft opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The documents produced by the other EP Committees [all in pdf] are: Draft Opinion of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy Draft Opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market Draft Opinion of the Committee on Petitions The new Decision Between the end of July and middle of August 2000, the Council unilaterally adopted significant changes to Decision 93/731, thereby creating confusion and uncertainty about the Union's policy on openness and transparency. A meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) on 26 July 2000 approved a number of amendments to the 1993 Decision, including: Replacing Article 1(1) with:
Adding to Article 2:
The text agreed by Coreper was adopted by the Council on 14 August 2000. (A 'written procedure' was used, under which a text is faxed to the Member States' and is adopted if a majority of them are in favour. In this case, 11 Member States voted for the proposal - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom; four voted against - Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden). There was apparently no discussion with any other EU institution. The text was published in Official Journal L 212, 23.8.2000 as Decision 2000/527 [pdf]. (Statewatch provides texts of both the new Decision and the 1993 Decision as amended by it; Public Information Europe also has the text available). The new Decision also amends Council Decision 2000/23 [pdf] of 6 December 1999, concerning the improvement of information on the Council's legislative activities and the public register of Council documents. (Ironically, in the preamble to that Decision, the Council states that 'Openness is vital for democracy and accountability within the European Union and information to the public is one of the instruments to enhance such openness'). According to Statewatch, the new legislation 'permanently excludes from public access all documents which are classified Top Secret, Secret and Confidential concerning the 'security and defence of the Union . . .' and 'also excludes access to any category of linked documents which 'enables conclusions to be drawn' regarding the existence of another, classified document without the express permission in writing of 'the author' (e.g. NATO or the US).' Non-EU countries or organisations can therefore prevent the release of information. Responses to the new Decision The impact of the Council's action was felt immediately, as the Commission agreed both to examine its own rules on public access to documents to ensure the same level of protection for documents concerning the ESDP, and to review the current draft Regulation in the context of the new Decision. The Guardian reported that 'The controls were rushed through despite opposition from the European ombudsman, Jacob Soderman, who warned . . . that the code could be applied to policy areas presently open to public scrutiny.' The General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) described the Council's action as 'both extraordinary and disgraceful', and said that 'it challenges European Union commitments to open Government, it undermines agreed co-decision arrangements and it rides roughshod over rhetoric promising public involvement in the debate about the future of Europe'. Both the EFJ and Statewatch blamed the amendments made by the Council on pressure from NATO. They reported that the initiative came directly from Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, and Secretary-General of the Western European Union. Mr Solana was previously Secretary-General of NATO. 'We understand that this intervention was orchestrated by NATO member states amidst concerns about common security policy' commented the EFJ. 'But we see no justification for it. Existing rules on access to documents and exceptions proposed under the draft Code put forward by the Commission are more than adequate to meet security needs.' Such confidence is clearly not shared by the Council. A June 2000 'Security Plan' - attributed to Mr Solana - identified the need to ensure that existing and proposed legislation provides sufficient protection for information concerning the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Statewatch reported that part of the Security Plan text stated:
On 27 July 2000 a Decision was adopted by the Secretary-General of the Council / High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, on measures for the protection of classified information applicable to the General Secretariat of the Council. The Decision (published in Official Journal C 239, 23.8.2000) amended Decision 24/95, primarily by adding the grade 'Tres Secret / Top Secret'. Perhaps significantly, the new Decision was said to be provisional - 'pending the adoption of more complete measures in the near future'. Not surprisingly, the European Parliament was also concerned at the Council's actions. Some MEPs had already criticised the Commission's proposed Regulation as unnecessarily restrictive. On 28 August 2000, a meeting of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs heard that that the overriding principle of new legislation should be to safeguard the right of public access to EU documents rather than to restrict access. The Legal Affairs Committee, meeting on 13 September, decided to recommend that, if no agreement is reached on the Council's unilateral decision, the Council should be taken to the European Court of Justice. MEPs in the committee argued that the Council had infringed Parliament's legislative powers by unilaterally deciding that certain documents should be kept secret. The decision on whether to take legal proceedings will be taken by EP President, Nicole Fontaine, before 28 October. Further information within European Sources Online: European Sources Online: European Voice: Further information can be seen in these external links: European Parliament Seminar 18 Sep 2000 Experts' contributions Links Bibliography Greens / EFA in the European Parliament European Commission Council of the European Union SCADPlus European Federation of Journalists / International Federation of Journalists The Guardian Public Information Europe (from the 'Topic' pull-down menu select 'Information Policy') Statewatch United Kingdom: House of Lords: Select Committee on the European Union: Further and subsequent information on the subject of this week's In Focus can be found by conducting an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online: insert 2.3.c in the Subject field and ensure the Date is set from July 2000. Eric Davies Changes to Council Decision 93/731/EC on public access to Council documents were adopted by the Council in August 2000. The move could deny access to a wide range of documents concerning justice and home affairs, aid and trade - on grounds of security and defence. With Parliament pressing for court proceedings to be taken against the Council, an EP seminar considered the implications for democracy, transparency and openness. |
|
| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
