Conseil UE ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΗΣ ΕΝΩΣΗΣ Bρυξέλλες, 3 Απριλίου 2000 (05.04) (OR. en) 6883/00 LIMITE INF 31 API 28 JUR 76 PUBLIC ΣΗΜΕΙΩΜΑ ΣΗΜΕΙΟΥ I/A της : Ομάδας "Πληροφόρηση" με ημερομηνία : 31 Μαρτίου 2000 προς : την ΕΜΑ (2ο Τμήμα) / το Συμβούλιο αριθ. προηγ. εγγρ. : 6882/00 Θέμα : Πρόσβαση του κοινού στα έγγραφα - επιβεβαιωτική αίτηση του κ. S. PEERS (03/00) Επισυνάπτεται για τις αντιπροσωπίες σχέδιο απάντησης του Συμβουλίου, το οποίο εγκρίθηκε από την Ομάδα "Πληροφόρηση" κατά τη συνεδρίασή της στις 31 Mαρτίου 2000 1, προς την τρίτη επιβεβαιωτική αίτηση που υπέβαλε ο κ. S. PEERS το 2000 να του επιτραπεί η πρόσβαση σε έγγραφα. Κατόπιν αυτού, ζητείται από την Επιτροπή των Μόνιμων Αντιπροσώπων να εισηγηθεί στο Συμβούλιο, στην προσεχή σύνοδό του να σημειώσει τη συμφωνία του με το σχέδιο απάντησης ως σημείο "Α", το οποίο όμως καταψηφίσθηκε από τη δανική αντιπροσωπία, να αποφασίσει να δημοσιεύσει το αποτέλεσμα της ψηφοφορίας. Το Παράρτημα είναι διαθέσιμο μόνον στα αγγλικά. ===================== 1 Η δανική αντιπροσωπία καταψήφισε το σχέδιο απάντησης. Οι περισσότερες αντιπροσωπίες, 6883/00 ΣΠΚ/ιβ 1 DG F III EL
συμφώνησαν να δημοσιευθεί το αποτέλεσμα της ψηφοφορίας. 6883/00 ΣΠΚ/ιβ 2 DG F III EL
ΠΑΡΑΡΤΗΜΑ DRAFT REPLY ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON... TO CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION BY MR STEVE PEERS (03/00) - made to the Council by letter dated 21 February 2000, registered by the General Secretariat of the Council on 9 March 2000 -, pursuant to Article 7(1) of Council Decision 93/731/EC, for access to the following documents: 12378/99, 12322/99, 12146/99, 11308/3/99, 12304/99, 12582/99, 5098/00, 14240/99, 13547/99, 13603/99, 13451/99 and 13472/99 The Council has carefully considered the abovementioned documents and has come to the following conclusions: The applicant may have access to documents 12322/99, 12304/99, 5098/00 1, 14240/99, 13547/99 1, 13451/99 (+ 13451/99 COR 1) and 13472/99. Document 12378/99 is an Outcome of proceedings of the meeting of the Article 36 Committee on 22 October 1999 concerning the Draft Convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters between the Member States of the European Union, in particular Joint investigation teams (Article 13). Release of this document, at this delicate stage in negotiations, could hamper further progress and make it difficult to achieve final agreement in the near future. Having weighed the applicant's interest in obtaining access to this document against the general interest in the effectiveness of discussion within the Council, which requires, in the present case, the confidentiality of its deliberations, the Council has concluded that the latter outweighs the former and that, consequently, the document cannot be made available pursuant to Article 4(2) of the Decision. Document 12146/99 is an Outcome of proceedings of the Working Party on Substantive Criminal Law of 19 October 1999 and resumes the discussions held about the draft Framework Decision on increasing protection by penal sanctions against counterfeiting in connection with the introduction of the euro. The document contains delegations' positions on specific parts of the draft decision which is still under discussion at the Council. Its disclosure would reveal these positions and could thereby 1 Names of the Council officials blanked out. 6883/00 ΣΠΚ/ιβ 3
affect the still ongoing discussions on the matter, thus hampering further progress in the negotiations. Having weighed the applicant's interest in obtaining access to this document against the general interest in the effectiveness of discussion within the Council, which requires, in the present case, the confidentiality of its deliberations, the Council has concluded that the latter outweighs the former and that, consequently, the document cannot be made available pursuant to Article 4(2) of the Decision. Document 11308/3/99 REV 3 is a Note from the General Secretariat to the Frontiers Working Party concerning the Common Manual for Schengen border control arrangements. The document summarises the delegations' replies on the need for revisions of Schengen border control regulations and on confidentiality of the Common Manual about which discussions are still continuing at the Council. Disclosure of the document is considered premature as it would reveal these positions and could thus impede the efficiency of the ongoing deliberations. Having weighed the applicant's interest in obtaining access to this document against the general interest in the effectiveness of discussion within the Council, which requires, in the present case, the confidentiality of its deliberations, the Council has concluded that the latter outweighs the former and that, consequently, the document cannot be made available pursuant to Article 4(2) of the Decision. As the document contains among others the Norwegian and Icelandic delegations' replies on the need for revisions of Schengen border control regulations and on confidentiality of the Common Manual, disclosure of the document could prejudice the EU's relations with these countries. Access must therefore be refused also pursuant to Article 4(1) of the Decision (international relations). Documents 12582/00 and 13603/99 (+ 13603/99 COR 1 and COR 2) are Introductory Notes describing the state of play in the discussions on the Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning the establishment of "Eurodac" for the comparison of fingerprints of applicants for asylum and certain other aliens. Disclosure of these documents, that summarise the delegations' positions on specific parts of the text, could affect the still ongoing discussions on the matter and prejudice the efficiency of the Council's deliberations on the draft Regulation. Having weighed the applicant's interest in obtaining access to these documents against the general interest in the effectiveness of discussion within the Council, which requires, in the present case, the confidentiality of its deliberations, the Council has concluded that the latter outweighs the former and that, consequently, the documents cannot be made available pursuant to Article 4(2) of the Decision. 6883/00 ΣΠΚ/ιβ 4
The question of whether or not the Council is legally obliged under Article 4 of Decision 93/731/EC to examine whether partial access should be granted to the information contained in a document is currently under examination by the Court of Justice (Case C-353/99 P). 6883/00 ΣΠΚ/ιβ 5