Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact
  • Home /
  • News /
  • 2008 /
  • May /
  • EU: Commission proposals to amend Regulation on access to EU documents

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

01 May 2008

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

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.

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.

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

Portugal: Report on torture suffered by Leonor Cipriano (1)

Next article 

UK: "A source for concern"

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

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. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy