BETA


2004/2125(INL) Access to the institutions' texts

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead LIBE CASHMAN Michael (icon: PSE PSE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 47

Events

2006/06/30
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2006/05/11
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2006/04/04
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2006/04/04
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted the own-initiative report by Michael CASHMAN (PES, UK) on access to the institutions' texts. The report was drawn up under an infrequently used procedure (Rule 39 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure) enabling Parliament to request the Commission to submit proposals for legislation.

The Parliament requests the Commission to submit to Parliament in 2006 a legislative proposal on 'the right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and general principles and limits on grounds of public or private interest governing this right of access', a proposal to be prepared in inter-institutional discussions and which should follow the detailed recommendations set out in the summary dated 22/02/2006.

In addition, it confirms that these recommendations respect the principle of subsidiarity, the fundamental rights of citizens, the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, particularly that on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The financial implications of the requested proposal must be covered by the institutions' operating budgets as the rules on transparency are indissociable from those relating to the establishment, adoption and publication of the texts of which they are the authors or which are addressed to them.

Lastly, the European Parliament stresses that any new rules on access to documents should apply as from the date of the entry into force of the prospectively amended Regulation and should, therefore, have no retroactive effect.

Documents
2006/04/04
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2006/04/03
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2006/03/15
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2006/03/14
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2006/02/22
   EP - Vote in committee
Details

The committee adopted the own-initiative report by Michael CASHMAN (PES, UK) on access to the institutions' texts. The report was drawn up under an infrequently used procedure (Rule 39 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure) enabling Parliament to request the Commission to submit proposals for legislation. It called on the Commission to submit updated legislation by the end of 2006 on 'the right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and general principles and limits on grounds of public or private interest governing this right of access'. The report contained a package of detailed recommendations.

MEPs felt that the final formulation of the existing EU legislation on public access to the institutions' texts - which was the fruit of lengthy negotiations between Parliament and Council before its adoption in 2001 - had proved to be too vague and was only partially achieving its objective. They wanted it to be revised so as to re-define the concept of legislative documents and define the concept of non-legislative documents and regulatory documents. As far as legislative documents were concerned, the committee said that access should be granted to all preparatory documents linked to a legislative procedure, to Parliament or Council debates where these institutions are "acting in a legislative capacity" and to the identity of the author of each initiative.

The report also wanted the new legislation to define more clearly the basis on which specific documents may be classified as confidential. MEPs were concerned to ensure that documents should not be classified as confidential "as a matter of routine, simply because they refer to an issue which is or might be relevant from a security point of view". They also wanted the proposed regulation to contain rules "for ensuring adequate control by the European Parliament (democratic parliamentary scrutiny)".

Anther recommendation called for the proposal to limit the right of Member States to restrict access to their contributions and amendments in legislative procedures. Lastly, the committee wanted the proposal to contain practical measures for ensuring citizens' access to documents, such as: a single point of access for all preparatory documents linked to a legislative procedure; a common interface for the institutions' registers; common rules for archiving documents; and a "clear and comprehensible" presentation of the institutions' workflow.

2006/01/12
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2004/10/28
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2004/08/31
   EP - CASHMAN Michael (PSE) appointed as rapporteur in LIBE

Documents

Activities

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/0
date
2005-10-07T00:00:00
docs
title: PE360.242
type
Committee draft report
body
EP
docs/2
date
2006-05-11T00:00:00
docs
title: SP(2006)2095
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
docs/2/docs/0/url
/oeil/spdoc.do?i=4560&j=0&l=en
docs/3
date
2006-05-11T00:00:00
docs
title: SP(2006)2095
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
docs/3
date
2006-06-30T00:00:00
docs
title: SP(2006)2311/2
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
docs/4
date
2006-06-30T00:00:00
docs
title: SP(2006)2311/2
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
docs/4/docs/0/url
/oeil/spdoc.do?i=4560&j=0&l=en
events/2/date
Old
2006-03-15T00:00:00
New
2006-03-14T00:00:00
docs/1/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE367.699
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/EN&reference=PE367.699
docs/2/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2006-0052_EN.html
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2006-0052_EN.html
docs/3/docs/0/url
/oeil/spdoc.do?i=4560&j=1&l=en
events/0/type
Old
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
New
Committee referral announced in Parliament
events/1/type
Old
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
New
Vote in committee
events/2
date
2006-03-15T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2006-0052_EN.html title: A6-0052/2006
events/2
date
2006-03-15T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2006-0052_EN.html title: A6-0052/2006
events/3/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20060403&type=CRE
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/EN&reference=20060403&type=CRE
events/5
date
2006-04-04T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2006-0122_EN.html title: T6-0122/2006
summary
events/5
date
2006-04-04T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2006-0122_EN.html title: T6-0122/2006
summary
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 47
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 046
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
committee
LIBE
rapporteur
name: CASHMAN Michael date: 2004-08-31T00:00:00 group: Socialist Group in the European Parliament abbr: PSE
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
committee
LIBE
date
2004-08-31T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: CASHMAN Michael group: Socialist Group in the European Parliament abbr: PSE
docs/2/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-52&language=EN
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2006-0052_EN.html
docs/3/body
EC
docs/4/body
EC
events/2/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-52&language=EN
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2006-0052_EN.html
events/5/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-122
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2006-0122_EN.html
activities
  • date: 2004-10-28T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: LIBE date: 2004-08-31T00:00:00 committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs rapporteur: group: PSE name: CASHMAN Michael
  • date: 2006-02-22T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: LIBE date: 2004-08-31T00:00:00 committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs rapporteur: group: PSE name: CASHMAN Michael type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2006-03-15T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-52&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0052/2006 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2006-04-03T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20060403&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2006-04-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=4560&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-122 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0122/2006 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
commission
  • body: EC dg: Legal Service commissioner: --
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
committee
LIBE
date
2004-08-31T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: CASHMAN Michael group: Socialist Group in the European Parliament abbr: PSE
committees/0
body
EP
responsible
True
committee
LIBE
date
2004-08-31T00:00:00
committee_full
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
rapporteur
group: PSE name: CASHMAN Michael
docs
  • date: 2005-10-07T00:00:00 docs: title: PE360.242 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2006-01-12T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE367.699 title: PE367.699 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
  • date: 2006-03-15T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-52&language=EN title: A6-0052/2006 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP
  • date: 2006-05-11T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=4560&j=1&l=en title: SP(2006)2095 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
  • date: 2006-06-30T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=4560&j=0&l=en title: SP(2006)2311/2 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events
  • date: 2004-10-28T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2006-02-22T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP summary: The committee adopted the own-initiative report by Michael CASHMAN (PES, UK) on access to the institutions' texts. The report was drawn up under an infrequently used procedure (Rule 39 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure) enabling Parliament to request the Commission to submit proposals for legislation. It called on the Commission to submit updated legislation by the end of 2006 on 'the right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and general principles and limits on grounds of public or private interest governing this right of access'. The report contained a package of detailed recommendations. MEPs felt that the final formulation of the existing EU legislation on public access to the institutions' texts - which was the fruit of lengthy negotiations between Parliament and Council before its adoption in 2001 - had proved to be too vague and was only partially achieving its objective. They wanted it to be revised so as to re-define the concept of legislative documents and define the concept of non-legislative documents and regulatory documents. As far as legislative documents were concerned, the committee said that access should be granted to all preparatory documents linked to a legislative procedure, to Parliament or Council debates where these institutions are "acting in a legislative capacity" and to the identity of the author of each initiative. The report also wanted the new legislation to define more clearly the basis on which specific documents may be classified as confidential. MEPs were concerned to ensure that documents should not be classified as confidential "as a matter of routine, simply because they refer to an issue which is or might be relevant from a security point of view". They also wanted the proposed regulation to contain rules "for ensuring adequate control by the European Parliament (democratic parliamentary scrutiny)". Anther recommendation called for the proposal to limit the right of Member States to restrict access to their contributions and amendments in legislative procedures. Lastly, the committee wanted the proposal to contain practical measures for ensuring citizens' access to documents, such as: a single point of access for all preparatory documents linked to a legislative procedure; a common interface for the institutions' registers; common rules for archiving documents; and a "clear and comprehensible" presentation of the institutions' workflow.
  • date: 2006-03-15T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-52&language=EN title: A6-0052/2006
  • date: 2006-04-03T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20060403&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2006-04-04T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=4560&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2006-04-04T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-122 title: T6-0122/2006 summary: The European Parliament adopted the own-initiative report by Michael CASHMAN (PES, UK) on access to the institutions' texts. The report was drawn up under an infrequently used procedure (Rule 39 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure) enabling Parliament to request the Commission to submit proposals for legislation. The Parliament requests the Commission to submit to Parliament in 2006 a legislative proposal on 'the right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and general principles and limits on grounds of public or private interest governing this right of access', a proposal to be prepared in inter-institutional discussions and which should follow the detailed recommendations set out in the summary dated 22/02/2006. In addition, it confirms that these recommendations respect the principle of subsidiarity, the fundamental rights of citizens, the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, particularly that on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The financial implications of the requested proposal must be covered by the institutions' operating budgets as the rules on transparency are indissociable from those relating to the establishment, adoption and publication of the texts of which they are the authors or which are addressed to them. Lastly, the European Parliament stresses that any new rules on access to documents should apply as from the date of the entry into force of the prospectively amended Regulation and should, therefore, have no retroactive effect.
  • date: 2006-04-04T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/legal_service/ title: Legal Service
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
Old
LIBE/6/23161
New
  • LIBE/6/23161
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 046
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 046
procedure/subject
Old
  • 1.20.05 Public access to information and documents, administrative practice
New
1.20.05
Public access to information and documents, administrative practice
activities
  • date: 2004-10-28T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: LIBE date: 2004-08-31T00:00:00 committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs rapporteur: group: PSE name: CASHMAN Michael
  • date: 2006-02-22T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: True committee: LIBE date: 2004-08-31T00:00:00 committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs rapporteur: group: PSE name: CASHMAN Michael type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2006-03-15T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2006-52&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0052/2006 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2006-04-03T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20060403&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2006-04-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=4560&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2006-122 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0122/2006 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
committees
  • body: EP responsible: True committee: LIBE date: 2004-08-31T00:00:00 committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs rapporteur: group: PSE name: CASHMAN Michael
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/legal_service/ title: Legal Service
procedure
dossier_of_the_committee
LIBE/6/23161
reference
2004/2125(INL)
title
Access to the institutions' texts
legal_basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 046
stage_reached
Procedure completed
subtype
Request for legislative proposal
type
INL - Legislative initiative procedure
subject
1.20.05 Public access to information and documents, administrative practice