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Europaudvalget 2001-02 (1. samling)
EUU Alm.del Bilag 170
Offentligt

Modtaget via elektronisk post. Der tages forbehold for evt. fejl

Europaudvalget

(Alm. del - bilag 170)

udenrigsministerråd

(Offentligt)

Medlemmerne af Folketingets Europaudvalg

og deres stedfortrædere

Bilag

Journalnummer

400.C.2-0

Kontor

EU-sekr.

14. november 2001

Til orientering for Folketingets Europaudvalg fremsendes vedlagt udkast til Rådets beslutning om ændring af

Rådets forretningsorden., dok. 13725/01.

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COUNCIL OF

THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 13 November 2001

13725/01

INF 131

JUR 338

"I" ITEM NOTE

from :

Working Party on Information

to :

Coreper (2nd part)

No. prev. doc.: 13453/01

Subject :

Draft Council Decision amending the Council's Rules of Procedure

1. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to

European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, which was adopted on 30 May 2001, stipulates that,

in accordance with Article 255(3) of the EC Treaty, each institution should elaborate in its Rules of Procedure

specific provisions regarding access to its documents.

2. The Working Party on Information has reached agreement on the attached text of the draft Council Decision

amending the Council's Rules of Procedure.

3. The Permanent Representatives Committee is therefore asked to suggest that the Council, at one of its next

meetings,

• adopt the Decision amending the Council's rules of procedure as it appears after legal/linguistic revision in doc.

13465/01 INF 129 JUR 337;

• decide on the publication of the Decision in the Official Journal.

________________________

ANNEX

COUNCIL DECISION

amending the Council's Rules of Procedure

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THE COUNCIL,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 207(3) and 255(3) thereof,

Whereas :

1. In accordance with Article 255(2) of the Treaty, 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

defines the general principles, conditions and limits governing the right of access to documents provided for in Article

255(1) of the EC Treaty.

2. Article 255(3) of the EC Treaty provides that the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission shall

elaborate in their Rules of Procedure specific provisions regarding access to their documents.

3. On the basis of its Rules of Procedure, adopted by Decision 2000/396/EC, ECSC, Euratom, the Council has adopted

a series of acts regarding access to its documents. Those acts should be consolidated in a single text incorporating, in

an annex to the Rules of Procedure, both the unchanged provisions and the substantive amendments to those acts and

new provisions which are to be made in conformity with Article 18 of Regulation No. 1049/2001.

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :

Article 1

The Council's Rules of Procedure are hereby amended as follows :

1. Article 10 shall be replaced by the following :

"Article 10

Public access to Council documents

The specific provisions regarding public access to Council documents are set out in Annex III."

2. Article 17, paragraph 1, point (g) shall be replaced by the following :

"(g) international agreements concluded by the Community;

Reference shall be made in the Official Journal to the entry into force of such agreements."

3. The following point (h) shall be added to the first paragraph of Article 17 :

"(h) international agreements concluded in accordance with Article 24 of the Treaty on European

Union, unless the Council decides otherwise on grounds of Articles 4 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No.

1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.

Reference shall be made in the Official Journal to the entry into force of such agreements."

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4) The following Annex shall be added :

"ANNEX III

Specific provisions regarding public access to Council documents

Article 1

Scope

Any natural or legal person shall have access to Council documents subject to the principles, conditions and

limits laid down in Regulation No 1049/2001 and the specific provisions laid down in this Annex.

Article 2

Consultation as regards third-party documents

1. For the purpose of applying Article 4(5) and Article 9(3) of Regulation No 1049/2001 and unless it is clear, upon

examination of the document in the light of Article 4(1), (2) and (3) of Regulation No 1049/2001, that it shall not

be disclosed, the third party concerned shall be consulted if :

a. the document is a sensitive document as defined in Article 9(1) of Regulation No 1049/2001;

b. the document originates from a Member State and

◦ has been submitted to the Council prior to the entry into force of Regulation No 1049/2001, or

◦ the Member State concerned has requested not to disclose it without its prior agreement.

3. In all other cases, where the Council receives an application for a third-party document in its possession, the

General Secretariat, for the purpose of applying Article 4(4) of Regulation No 1049/2001, shall consult the third

party concerned unless it is clear, upon examination of the document in the light of Article 4(1), (2) and (3) of

Regulation No 1049/2001, that it shall or shall not be disclosed.

4. The third party shall be consulted in writing (including by e-mail) and be given a reasonable time limit for its

reply, taking into account the time limit laid down in Article 7 of Regulation No 1049/2001. In the cases referred

to in paragraph 1, the third party shall be asked to give its opinion in writing.

5. Where the document does not fall within paragraph 1(a) or (b) and the General Secretariat, in the light of the third

party's negative opinion, is not satisfied that Article 4(1) or (2) of Regulation No 1049/2001 is applicable, the

Council shall be seized of the matter.

If the Council envisages the release of the document, the third party shall be informed immediately in

writing of the Council's intention to release the document after a time period of at least 10 working days. At

the same time, the third party 's attention shall be drawn to Article 243 of the EC Treaty.

Article 3

Requests for consultation received by other institutions or Member States

Consultations with the Council by another institution or a Member State on an application concerning a

Council document should be directed via e-mail to [email protected] or by telefax to +32(0)2 285

6361.

The General Secretariat shall give its opinion in the name of the Council promptly, taking into account any

time limit required for a decision to be made by the institution or the Member State concerned, and at the

latest within 5 working days.

Article 4

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Documents originating from Member States

Any request by a Member State under Article 4(5) of Regulation No 1049/2001 shall be made in writing to

the General Secretariat.

Article 5

Requests referred by Member States

When a request is referred to the Council by a Member State, it shall be handled in accordance with Articles

7 and 8 of Regulation No 1049/2001 and the relevant provisions of this Annex. In the event of a total or

partial refusal of access, the applicant shall be informed that any confirmatory application must be addressed

directly to the Council.

Article 6

Address for applications

Applications for access to a document shall be addressed in writing to the Secretary-General of the Council/

High Representative, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175, B-1048 Brussels, or by e-mail to [email protected]

or by telefax to +32(0)2 285 6361.

Article 7

Processing of initial applications

Subject to Article 9(2) and (3) of Regulation No 1049/2001, any application for access to a Council

document shall be handled by the General Secretariat.

Article 8

Processing of confirmatory applications

Subject to Article 9(2) and (3) of Regulation 1049/2001, any confirmatory application shall be decided upon

by the Council.

Article 9

Charges

The charges for producing and sending copies of Council documents shall be set by the Secretary General.

Article 10

Public register of Council documents

1. The General Secretariat shall be responsible for providing public access to the register of Council documents.

2. In addition to the references to documents, it shall be indicated in the register which documents drawn up after 1

July 2000 have already been released to the public. Subject to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European

Parliament and of the Council on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the

Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data and Article 16 of Regulation No

1049/2001, their content shall be made availabl e on the Internet.

Article 11

Documents directly accessible to the public

1. This article shall apply to all Council documents, provided that they are not classified and without prejudice to the

possibility of making a written application in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation No 1049/2001.

2. For the purpose of this article :

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◾

"circulation" shall mean distribution of the final version of a document to the members of the

Council, their representatives or delegations;

◾

"legislative documents" shall mean documents drawn up or received in the course of procedures

for the adoption of legislative acts as defined in Article 7 of the Council's Rules of Procedure.

1. The General Secretariat shall make the following documents available to the public as soon as they have been

circulated :

a. documents of which neither the Council nor a Member State is the author, which have been made public by their

author or with his agreement;

b. provisional agendas of meetings of the Council in its various formations;

c. any text adopted by the Council and intended to be published in the Official Journal of the European

Communities.

1. Provided that they are clearly not covered by any of the exceptions laid down in Article 4 of Regulation No

1049/2001, the General Secretariat may also make the following documents available to the public as soon as they

have been circulated:

a. provisional agendas of committees and working parties;

b. other documents, such as information notes, reports, progress reports and reports on the state of discussions

in the Council or one of its preparatory bodies which do not reflect individual positions of delegations,

excluding Legal Service opinions and contributions.

1. The General Secretariat shall make the following legislative documents available to the public, in addition to the

documents referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4, as soon as they have been circulated :

a. cover notes and copies of letters concerning legislative acts addressed to the Council by other institutions or

bodies of the European Union or, subject to Article 4(5) of Regulation No 1049/2001, by a Member State;

b. notes submitted to Coreper and/or to the Council for approval ('I/A' and 'A' Item Notes), as well as the draft

legislative acts to which they refer;

c. decisions adopted by the Council during the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty and joint texts

approved by the Conciliation committee.

1. After adoption of one of the decisions referred to in paragraph 5(c) or final adoption of the act concerned, the

General Secretariat shall make available to the public any legislative documents relating to this act which were

drawn up before this decision and which are not covered by any of the exceptions laid down in Article 4(1), (2)

and (3), second subparagraph, of Regulation No 1049/2001, such as information notes, reports, progress reports

and reports on the state of discussion i n the Council or in one of its preparatory bodies ('outcomes of

proceedings'), excluding Legal Service opinions and contributions.

At the request of a Member State, documents which are covered by the preceding subparagraph and reflect

the individual position of that Member State's delegation in the Council shall not be made available to the

public under these provisions."

Article 2

The following acts are hereby repealed :

a. Council Decision 93/731/EC of 20 December 1993 on public access to Council documents .

b. Council Decision 2000/23/EC of 6 December 1999 on the improvement of information on the Council's legislative

activities and the public register of Council documents .

c. Council Decision 2001/320/EC of 9 April 2001 on making certain categories of Council documents available to

the public .

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Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on 3 December 2001.

Done at Brussels, For the Council

The President

_____________________