Official secrets proposal for EC
01 January 1991
Official secrets proposal for EC
bacdoc May=1992
Statewatch briefing
EC proposes official secrets
As a result of the Maastricht Agreement last year the European
Commission has prepared a proposal to introduce a UK-style
official secrets regulation binding on all member states. The
proposal, prepared by the Security Office of the Commission, has
been called for by member governments as the EC moves into more
contentious areas like defence, foreign affairs, immigration and
asylum policies, and the perceived need to `harmonise' policing
and legal policies.
Under the Regulation officials of the Commission in Brussels and
their counterparts in the 12 member states will be able to
classify documents about the Community proposals and policies.
There are areas of EC policy which properly require protection
for example where there maybe financial gain (such as bids and
contracts). This proposal however is a blanket provision which
can be applied to any area of EC policy.
The spirit of the Regulation runs directly contrary to moves in
the European Parliament to bring in a freedom of information law.
The European Parliament is to debate a motion on freedom of
information within the EC at its meeting in June. It will be
discussing a resolution from Committee on Culture, Youth,
Education and Media which:
Calls on the Commission, in particular, to draw up a
proposal for a directive which, along the lines of the US
Freedom of Information Act, guarantees all journalists
access to information from Community and national
authorities (ruling out exclusive access to such
information).
The draft Regulation was submitted by the Commission on 26
February and was discussed at the meeting of the Legal Affairs
Committee of the European Parliament on 30 April and will be
considered again by the Committee in the second half of May.
It is understood that the proposal is currently being considered
in the UK by the Office of the Minister for the Civil Service
(OMCS) in the Cabinet Office. The person responsible for the
civil service is Prime Minister John Major.
The document under discussion is the `Proposal for a Council
Regulation (EEC) on the security measures applicable to
classified information produced or transmitted in connection with
the European Community or Euratom activities' (No c72/15,
21.3.92, reproduced in the Appendix).
Section I: Protection: principles and general rules
The Regulation will establish `security gradings for sensitive
information connected with EEC or Euratom activities and the
security measures to be applied to such information both inside
Member States and institutions and when it is transmitted by one
Member State or institution to another.'
`Classified information' is taken to mean `all forms of
information whose unauthorised disclosure could be detrimental
to the essential interests of the European Communities and of the
Member States'.
The `institutions of the European Communities' referred to are:
the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the
Court of Justice plus the Court of Auditors, the Economic and
Social Committee and the European Investment Bank.
It will apply to any information `detrimental' to the `essential
interests' of Member States. `Detrimental' and `Essential
interests' are not defined. As the Regulation applies to
information emanating from both the Commission or Council and any
of the 12 Member States it will be up to the respective officials
to determine the subjects to be classified and to decide so on
undefined grounds of `essential interests'.
It says that security gradings shall only be assigned `where
necessary' and shall be applied to an item of information `by
reference to the content of the information in question'.
The levels of classified gradings will be:
EC-TOP SECRET
`where unauthorised disclosure might be extremely d