Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-03-Speech-4-087"
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"en.20010503.5.4-087"2
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"We have voted in favour of Mr Cashman’s report on new clearer rules for citizens’ access to official documents in the EU’s institutions. The compromise that has now been adopted by the European Parliament is an important step along the way to increased openness and improved efficiency in the institutions. Moreover, the new rules are clearly better than the lawless situation in respect of public access to documents that currently prevails. At the same time, we nonetheless see a number of problems with the new rules on public access to documents.
Sensitive documents that are classified as secret, for example with reference to general security, are exempted from the principle of public access and do not need to be logged. The author of a sensitive document is the person who decides whether the recipient may make it available to others. These rules are in total conflict with the Swedish principle of public access to official records that has characterised Swedish government for over 250 years. The Swedish Presidency has asserted that the special rules concerning sensitive documents will only cover documents concerning foreign and security policy. However, we see a great risk that sensitive documents may very well also come to include documents that concern other areas, such as the Schengen cooperation and the common policy on refugees.
Moreover, we are concerned that the Swedish constitution, with its roots dating back to 1766, will come under threat as a result of unclear EU rules. The introduction to the Regulation states that the purpose is not to change existing legislation in the Member States. At the same time, the Commission forced through the deletion of a reference to national legislation right at the last minute. Nonetheless, we presume that the Commission will keep its promise and maintain the Member States’ right to take decisions independently concerning the provision of documents. Throughout the decision-making process, the Commission has worked against increased openness and access for its citizens in order instead to defend the classifying of documents. This suggests that the old-fashioned Commission is still characterised by bureaucracy and an unwillingness to change.
Hopefully the new Regulation on citizens’ access to documents is an important step on the way towards even clearer rules capable of forming a basis for a modernised administration in which openness and access are a matter of course. The Regulation states that the rules will be reviewed in January 2004 at the latest. We are voting in favour of the report today in the conviction that this is just the first step towards a more open EU. The ELDR Group will be pushing the issue further."@en1
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