ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΗΣ ΕΝΩΣΗΣ Βρυξέλλες, 3 Νοεμβρίου 2008 (05.11) (OR. en) 13728/08 INF 199 API 65 JUR 379 ΣΗΜΕΙΩΜΑ ΣΗΜΕΙΟΥ I/A της : Ομάδας «Πληροφόρηση» προς : την ΕΜΑ (2ο τμήμα) / το Συμβούλιο αριθ. προηγ. εγγρ. : 13727/08 Θέμα : Πρόσβαση του κοινού στα έγγραφα - Επιβεβαιωτική αίτηση του κ. Yaman AKDENIZ (16/c/02/08) Επισυνάπτεται για τις αντιπροσωπίες σχέδιο απάντησης του Συμβουλίου στην επιβεβαιωτική αίτηση του κ. Yaman AKDENIZ (16/c/02/08), όπως προέκυψε από την εξέταση στην οποία προέβη η Ομάδα «Πληροφόρηση» κατά τη συνεδρίασή της στις 31 Οκτωβρίου 2008. Η φινλανδική και η σουηδική αντιπροσωπία δήλωσαν ότι θα καταψηφίσουν το σχέδιο απάντησης και προέβησαν στις εξής δηλώσεις : - ΦΙ: «Η Φινλανδία ενέκρινε το αρχικό σχέδιο απάντησης και δεν είναι πεπεισμένη ότι οι περαιτέρω περιορισμοί της μερικής πρόσβασης ήταν απαραίτητοι.» - ΣΔ: «Η Σουηδία δεν συμφωνεί με την προτεινόμενη τροποποιημένη διατύπωση του σημείου 9. Η θέση της Σουηδίας είναι ότι αμφότερα τα παραρτήματα πρέπει, σύμφωνα με την αρχική πρόταση της Γενικής Γραμματείας, να δημοσιοποιηθούν στο σύνολό τους.» Η πλειοψηφία των αντιπροσωπιών συμφώνησε να δημοσιευθεί το αποτέλεσμα της ψηφοφορίας. 13728/08 ΙΑ/νμ 1 DG F EL
Η Επιτροπή των Μόνιμων Αντιπροσώπων καλείται επομένως να εισηγηθεί στο Συμβούλιο, στην προσεχή σύνοδό του: - να σημειώσει τη συμφωνία για το συνημμένο σχέδιο απάντησης στα σημεία «Α», με αρνητική ψήφο της φινλανδικής και της σουηδικής αντιπροσωπίας, - να αποφασίσει τη δημοσίευση του αποτελέσματος της ψηφοφορίας. Το παράρτημα είναι διαθέσιμο μόνο στην αγγλική. 13728/08 ΙΑ/νμ 2 DG F EL
ANNEX DRAFT REPLY ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON... TO CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION 16/c/02/08 made by Mr Yaman AKDENIZ to the Council by e-mail on 1 October 2008, pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, for public access to document 13930/06 The Council has considered this confirmatory application under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 (OJ L 145 of 31.5.2001, p. 43) and Annex II to the Council's Rules of Procedure (Council Decision 2006/683/EC, Euratom - OJ L 285 of 16.10.2006, p. 47) and has come to the following conclusion: 1. The applicant refers to document 13930/06, which is a note from the German delegation to the Working Party on Terrorism concerning the Conclusions of the Kick-off conference "Check the web" organized in Berlin on 26-27 September 2006. 2. In its reply dated 22 September 2008, the General Secretariat refused to grant the applicant full access to the above-mentioned document on the basis of Article 4(1)(a), first indent, of the Regulation (protection of the public interest with regard to public security). However, the applicant was granted access to pages 1 to 4 of the document (with the exception of point 6 on page 3), which are not covered by this exception. 3. In his confirmatory application, the applicant claims that the monitoring and analysis of the Internet by law enforcement agencies across the EU for any purpose including prevention of terrorist activities should be subject to public scrutiny and public debate. The applicant also argues that there is an overriding public interest in disclosing the document under scrutiny for an understanding of the nature and extent of web monitoring employed by the EU institutions and its Member States. Furthermore, the applicant requests the Council to seek permission for the release of the information provided by the Member States with regard to the Check the Web project, since, according to the applicant, some Member States might not be opposed to disclosure to the public of the information provided by them. 13728/08 ΙΑ/νμ 3
4. The Council has examined the above-mentioned document in the light of the applicant's arguments and carried out internal consultations within its General Secretariat to ascertain the applicability of the above-mentioned exception to the parts retained. The Council's conclusion is set out below. 5. First of all, it should be recalled that the exceptions provided for in Article 4(1)(a) of the Regulation, including the protection of public interest as regards public security, are mandatory. In consequence, once it is established that the requested document falls within the sphere of public security and that the protection of the invoked interest would be impaired if the document were to be disclosed, the institution must refuse public access. Article(4)(1)(a) of the Regulation does not allow for the balancing of the protected interests against other public interests. For this reason, the Council may not weigh the public interest in the protection of public security against a possible overriding public interest in disclosure, as evoked by the applicant. 6. Regarding the applicant's request that the Council seek permission for the release of the information provided by the Member States concerning the Check the Web project, the applicant's attention is drawn to the fact that the requested document is a Council document submitted in the context of discussions within the Council. When the Council receives an application for access to such a document, it takes a decision on the request on the basis of the exceptions laid down in Article 4 of the Regulation, and has no legal obligation to consult the delegations concerned on the parts which summarise their position. 7. Following the renewed assessment of document 13930/06, the Council confirms the approach taken by the General Secretariat in its reply to the applicant's initial request. Full disclosure to the public of information concerning concrete national measures on how certain Member States fight terrorism on the Internet, both in terms of monitoring and analysing the activities carried out by terrorist groups and organisations over the Internet, would counteract the purpose of such measures and could enable terrorist organisations to pinpoint weaknesses in the law enforcement systems' efforts to monitor the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes. 13728/08 ΙΑ/νμ 4
8. Full public access to document 13930/06 must therefore be denied pursuant to Article 4(1)(a), first indent, of the Regulation (protection of the public interest as regards public security). 9. However, in the light of the internal consultations referred to above, the Council has come to the conclusion that further partial access may be granted pursuant to Article 4(6) of the Regulation. The Council has therefore decided to extend the partial access, granted in response to the applicant's initial request, to include the following parts of Annex I : - the full text of chapter I - chapter II, pt 1 and pt 3, 1st and 2nd bullets. - the full text of chapter III. which, in the Council's view, are no longer covered by any of the exceptions of Regulation 1049/2001. A partially declassified version of document 13930/06, which include the abovementioned additional parts, is set out in document 13930/06 EXT 2. ------------------------------- 13728/08 ΙΑ/νμ 5