[open-government] EU Court rules Council refusal of document illegitimate

Tue Mar 22 14:18:20 GMT 2011

General Court of the European Union rules refusal illegitimate 

Access Info wins case against Council on open legislative procedure

22 March 2011: The General Court of the European Union today found that the
Council of the EU wrongly refused to disclose the identity of countries
taking positions on reform of the EU's access to documents rules.

Ruling on an application brought by Access Info Europe, the Court found that
the Council had "in no way demonstrated" how publication of the country
names would "seriously undermine its decision-making process".

The Court stated that "If citizens are to be able to exercise their
democratic rights, they must be in a position to follow in detail the
decision-making process" and that they should "have access to all relevant
information."

Decision in Access Info Europe v Council of the European Union, case
T-233/09
<http://www.access-info.org/documents/T-233_09_IMPORTANT_LEGAL_NOTICE.pdf>
file_pdf
<http://www.access-info.org/documents/T-233_09_IMPORTANT_LEGAL_NOTICE.doc>
file_doc
<http://www.access-info.org/documents/T-233_09_IMPORTANT_LEGAL_NOTICE.odt>
odf2odt-16x16
<http://www.access-info.org/documents/T-233_09_IMPORTANT_LEGAL_NOTICE.html>
html_icon

Read MoreThe Council had asserted that: "If written contributions were made
fully accessible to the public . positions of the delegations [would] become
entrenched, since those delegations would lose some of their ability . to
justify before their public a compromise solution, which may differ from
their initial position."

ECJ_0The Court responded that "By its nature, a proposal is designed to be
discussed . not to remain unchanged .. Public opinion is perfectly capable
of understanding that the author of a proposal is likely to amend its
content subsequently."

Countering the argument put forward by the Council that: "If delegations
were deprived of the chance of having calm discussions . it would make it
difficult for the Council to move the revision of the regulation forward,"
the Court noted that: "it is in the nature of democratic debate that a
proposal for amendment of a draft regulation . can be subject to both
positive and negative comments on the part of the public and media."

The Court's ruling comes a day after Access Info Europe published "The
Secret State of EU Transparency Reforms <http://www.access-info.org/> "
which demonstrates the need for greater openness in the Council if the
public is to follow and participate in the EU legislative process.

"The judgment and the case illustrate that political debate is essential
before legislation is adopted", said Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of
Access Info Europe. "This ruling means that the European public will be
better informed about and have a say in the decisions that affect our
everyday lives,"

For more information - in English or French - please contact:

Pam Bartlett Quintanilla, Researcher, Access Info Europe
pam at access-info.org | +34 699 354 215

Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe 
helen at access-info.org | +34 667 685 319

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