EU: New states insist on open government
01 May 1994
Sweden and Finland have attached a declaration to their accession agreements to the EU asserting the importance of open government and public access to documents. The Finnish Declaration says that public access to "official records is a principle of fundamental legal and political importance". The Swedish declaration states: "open government and, in particular access to official records as well as the constitutional protection afforded to those who give information to the media are and remain fundamental principles which form part of Sweden's constitutional, political and cultural heritage".
The "Present Member States" have, in turn, attached a "Declaration" in response which says:
"The Present Member States of the EU take note of the unilateral declaration of Sweden concerning openness and transparency. They take it for granted that, as a member of the EU, Sweden will fully comply with Community law in this respect."
It would appear that this reference to "Community law" alludes to the Council (the body representing the 12 governments) decision on "Classified information" agreed in December 1993 which is being challenged in the European Court of Justice (see Statewatch, vol 4 no 1 & 2, and story in this issue).
Although the Swedish "open government" policy does allow information to be restricted where it might damage foreign relations it is not clear how this could be used to for matters under Title VI of the Treaty of European Union covering policing and immigration.
It is therefore quite surprising that a further Declaration attached to the Act of Accession agreed by all four countries joining the EU - Norway, Austria, Finland and Sweden - says that they will accept all the decisions taken by the current 12 states on Justice & Home Affairs up to the point of formal accession (1 January 1995). By then a whole body of policy, the K4 Committee and Europol will have been agreed over which they will have had no say. The Declaration says that the four countries will "participate in subsequent negotiations relating to those conventions and instruments only on those points still be resolved".
Council ref: AA-AFNS 6 Final 1994.