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EU: Exclusive: Commission proposals to amend Regulation on access to EU documents

01 April 2008

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Statewatch analysis (pdf)

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: NB based on old version - see above for final version and EM:

- Adopted version: Explanatory Memorandum and Annotated text (pdf)

- Penultimate version: Commission proposals - Consolidated text (pdf)

- Penultimate version: Commission Explanatory Memorandum (pdf)

- Penultimate version: Memorandum to the Commission (pdf)

- Penultimate version: Table comparing current text to proposed changes (pdf)

- Full background and documentation since 1993 is on the Statewatch Observatory: FOI in the EU (link)

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