COUNCIL OF Brussels, 18 July 2002 THE EUROPEAN UNION 11121/02 INF 146 API 99 JUR 286 COVER NOTE from : General Secretariat of the Council to : Working Party on Information Subject : Public access to documents - Confirmatory application made by MEP Joachim WUERMELING (1/02) Delegations will find annexed hereto: • a request for access to documents lodged by MEP WUERMELING on 14 June 2002 (Annex 1); • a reply from the General Secretariat of the Council dated 2 July 2002 (Annex 2); • a confirmatory application from MEP WUERMELING dated 17 July 2002 (Annex 3). ________________________ 11121/02 JV,RJF/vl 1 DG F III EN ANNEX 1 e-mail message (in German) of 14 June 2002 (at 14.45) from: Mr Stephan Huber, on behalf of MEP Wuermeling to: Council Secretariat Subject: Access to Council documents Dear Sir or Madam, For his work as a Member of the European Parliament, Mr Wuermeling needs : − Legal Service Opinion of 1 March 2001 (document 6736/01), − Legal Service Opinion of 1 July 1999 (document 9745/99). I should be grateful if you could mail them to me as soon as possible. (Complimentary close). Stephan Huber 11121/02 JV,RJF/vl 2 ANNEX 1 DG F III EN ANNEX 2 COUNCIL OF Brussels, 2 July 2002 THE EUROPEAN UNION GENERAL SECRETARIAT Mr Stephan Huber Directorate-General F Press Assistent to Information MEP Joachim Wuermeling Public Relations Transparency - Access to Documents Translation of letter in German E-mail: RUE DE LA LOI, 175 B – 1048 BRUSSELS jwuermeling- Tel: (32 2) 285 66 18 (32 2) 285 63 34 [email protected] Fax: (32 2) 285 63 61 E-MAIL: [email protected] 02/0932-eb Dear Mr Huber, Thank you for your e-mail of 14 June 2002 requesting access to documents 6736/01 and 9745/99. The General Secretariat has examined your request on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (Official Journal L 145 of 31.05.2001, page 43) and the specific provisions regarding public access to Council documents in Annex III to the Council's Rules of Procedure, as amended by Council Decision 2001/840/EC of 29 November 2001 (Official Journal L 313 of 30.11.2001, page 40) and has come to the following conclusion: - Document 6736/01 is an Opinion of the Legal Service on the proposal for a Council Directive regarding minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof. - Document 9745/99 is a Contribution of the Legal Service to the proceedings of the Working Party on Social Questions regarding a Commission proposal for a Council Regulation on the extension to third country nationals of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community. 11121/02 RJF/vl 3 ANNEX 2 DG F III EN In view of their content, release of these documents would undermine the protection of the Council's internal legal advice, under Article 4(2) of the Regulation. In the absence of any specific reasons pointing to a particular overriding public interest in disclosure, the General Secretariat has concluded that, on balance, the interest in protecting internal legal advice outweighs the public interest and has decided to refuse access to these documents, pursuant to Article 4(2) of the Regulation. Under Article 7(2) of the Regulation you may, within 15 working days of receiving the institution's reply, make a confirmatory application asking the Council to reconsider its position. Yours sincerely, For the General Secretariat Jacob Visscher 11121/02 RJF/vl 4 ANNEX 2 DG F III EN ANNEX 3 e-mail message (in German) of 17 July 2001 (at 16.30) from: Mr Joachim Würmeling to: Mr Jacob Visscher Subject: Confirmatory application for access to documents Dear Mr Visscher, Thank you for your e-mail of 2 July 2002. Unfortunately, you did not reply favourably to my request. However, I do need these two Legal Service Opinions urgently for my work as a Member of the European Parliament. The grounds for refusal under Article 4(2) of Regulation No 1049/2001 are formalistic. The Council has not indicated why the internal deliberations would have been affected nor has it balanced the public interest against mine in a comprehensible manner. In particular where exceptions have to be made to the principle of free access and transparency, applicants must be given a clear and sound reason, which they can check. Legal Service opinions are drawn up in order to provide an objective overview of the legal situation and to offer possible solutions. Objective presentations which describe the present legal situation without making a political assessment will not undermine the internal deliberations. The refusal of access gives the impression that, contrary to their objective, these Opinions are in fact tendentious. This would make the need for knowledge of their content even more urgent. Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation No 1049/2001, I therefore submit a confirmatory application for access to the following documents : − Legal Service Opinion of 1 March 2001 (document 6736/01), − Legal Service Opinion of 1 July 1999 (document 9745/99). (Complimentary close) Dr Joachim Wuermeling, MEP European Parliament Rue Wiertz ASP 15 E 210 B-1047 Brussels Tel.: +32-2-284-5711 Fax.: +32-2-284-9711 www.wuermeling.net www.eu-konvent.de 11121/02 RJF/vl 5 ANNEX 3 DG F III EN .