12679/10 vc/jh/ps 1 DG F2A

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1 RADA EVROPSKÉ UNIE Brusel 13. září 2010 (17.09) (OR. en) 12679/10 INF 98 API 60 JUR 326 POZNÁMKA K BODU I/A Odesílatel : Pracovní skupina pro informace Příjemce: Coreper (část II) / Rada Č. předchozího dokumentu: 12677/10 Předmět: Přístup veřejnosti k dokumentům - potvrzující žádost č. 17/c/01/10 Delegace naleznou v příloze návrh odpovědi Rady na potvrzující žádost č. 17/c/01/10 ve znění po posouzení v Pracovní skupině pro informace na zasedání konaném dne 7. září Dánská, finská a švédská delegace uvedly, že budou hlasovat proti návrhu odpovědi, a učinily tato prohlášení: FI: Finsko se domnívá, že na zbývající části dokumentu, alespoň ne v celém rozsahu, se uvedená výjimka nevztahuje. Úmluva má zvláštní povahu a cíle EU ve vyjednávacím procesu vycházejí do značné míry ze znění Smlouvy nebo jejího protokolu a přístup k dokumentu by měl být rozšířen alespoň na tyto části /10 vc/jh/ps 1 DG F2A CS

2 SE a DK: Měl by být umožněn další částečný přístup, například k částem odstavce 1 a odstavce 13, jelikož jejich zpřístupnění by neohrozilo žádný ze zájmů chráněných podle článku 4. Většina delegací souhlasila se zveřejněním výsledku hlasování. Výbor stálých zástupců se tudíž vyzývá, aby Radě navrhl, aby na příštím zasedání: - vyjádřila v rámci bodů A souhlas s návrhem odpovědi uvedeným v příloze tohoto dokumentu s tím, že dánská, finská a švédská delegace hlasují proti; - rozhodla o zveřejnění výsledku hlasování. Příloha je k dispozici pouze v anglickém znění /10 vc/jh/ps 2 DG F2A CS

3 PŘÍLOHA DRAFT REPLY ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON... TO CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION No 17/c/01/10 made by on 27 July 2010, pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, for public access to document 10817/10 (RESTREINT UE) The Council has considered this confirmatory application under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 (OJ L 145 of , p. 43) and Annex II to the Council s Rules of Procedure (Council Decision 2009/937/EU, Official Journal L 325, , p. 35) and has come to the following conclusion: 1. The applicant refers to document 10817/10 (classified RESTREINT UE), an outcome of proceedings of the Council meeting (Justice and Home Affairs) on 4 June 2010 concerning the Council Decision authorising the Commission to negotiate the Accession Agreement of the European Union to the European Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). 2. In its reply dated 27 July 2010, the General Secretariat granted partial access to page 1 of the document. Access to the remaining parts of the document was refused pursuant to the third indent of Article 4(1)(a) of the Regulation (protection of the public interest with regard to international relations) and to the first subparagraph of Article 4(3) of the Regulation (protection of the decision-making process of the Council). 3. In his confirmatory request, the applicant claims that the document he requested was perhaps wrongly identified, as he requested access to the mandate approved by the Council and not to a draft text. Furthermore, the applicant contests the classification (RESTREINT UE) of the document and challenges the General Secretariat s refusal to grant full access to the requested document because publication of the document would impede the proper conduct of the negotiations. Finally, the applicant claims that, taken into account the nature of the Convention, there is clear public interest in releasing the document /10 vc/jh/ps 3

4 4. The Council has examined the above-mentioned document in the light of the applicant s arguments and has come to the following conclusion: 5. Firstly, as regards the applicant s claim that the document the applicant requested was perhaps wrongly identified, the Council would like to recall that in the initial application, the applicant specifically requested access to document 10817/10, mentioning the number and the title of the document. 6. Secondly, as regards the classification of the document, RESTREINT UE, it is applied to information and material the unauthorised disclosure of which could be disadvantageous to the interests of the European Union or one or more of its Member States, in accordance with Section II, paragraph 4 of the Council s security regulations The document concerned is the Council Decision authorising the Commission to negotiate the Accession Agreement of the European Union to the European Convention for the protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has at present 47 contracting parties (including all 27 EU-Member States but not the EU as such) and is managed by the Council of Europe. 8. The Commission submitted its proposal for negotiation directives to negotiate the Accession Agreement of the European Union to the ECHR on 17 March 2010 (SEC(2010) 305 final/2). After examination of the proposal by the Working Party on Fundamental Rights, Citizens Rights and Free Movement of Persons, which is the Council s preparatory body dealing with the proposal, the Council adopted the Decision comprising the negotiating directives at its Justice and Home Affairs session of 4 June On 7 July 2010, the negotiations on the accession of the EU to the ECHR were formally launched. 1 Council decision 2001/264/EC of 19 March 2001 adopting the Council s security regulations, OJ L 101, , p /10 vc/jh/ps 4

5 9. The Council considers that release to the public of the negotiating directives and the information on the EU's internal negotiation arrangements as regards the negotiations in question contained in document 10817/10 would reveal the EU s strategic objectives to be achieved in these negotiations and would thereby enable the EU s negotiating partners to assess the measure of the EU s willingness to compromise. This would weaken the EU s negotiation position and endanger the overall conduct of the on-going negotiations. 10. According to the applicant, to suppose that the negotiating mandate for accession to the European Convention on Human Rights could be disadvantageous to the interests of the European Union or its Member States is nonsensical as any opposing parties, i.e. states that are members of the Council of Europe but not of the EU, will be informed of the EU s demands immediately they are put forward at a negotiating session. 11. This assumption rests on a misunderstanding. The EU s negotiation directives in international negotiations contain information relating to the EU s approach to the negotiations. Such negotiation directives are not shared with the parties with whom the negotiations take place. In the case at hand, public access to the requested document would reveal to anyone, including to the parties the EU is negotiating with, the precise limits of the aims which the EU tries to attain in the negotiations. Releasing this information to the public would weaken the EU s negotiating position and damage the climate of confidence in the negotiations. This might, in turn, harm the EU s capacity to draw the negotiations to a successful conclusion. 12. For the above-mentioned reasons the Council decides to refuse full public access to doc /10 on the basis of Article 4(1)(a), third indent, of Regulation 1049/2001 (protection of the public interest with regard to international relations) /10 vc/jh/ps 5

6 13. As regards the possible existence of an overriding public interest in releasing the document, the legislator balanced the principle of the transparency of the institutions decision-making when it laid down the general principles and limits on the right of public access to documents in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. The exceptions provided for in Article 4(1)(a) of the Regulation, including the protection of the public interest as regards international relations, are mandatory and do not comprise an overriding public interest clause. In consequence, once it is established that the requested document falls within the sphere of international relations and that the protection of the invoked interest would be impaired if the document were to be disclosed, the institution must refuse public access. 14. The Council has examined, pursuant to Article 4(6) of the Regulation, the possibility of granting extended partial access to the document and decided that extended partial access may be given to the following parts of the document which are not covered by the exception, namely: - Council s Decision on pages 2 and 3, except Article 5; POZN. - draft Council statement in Annex III on page 10. A partially declassified version of document 10817/10 which includes the additional parts listed above is contained in document 10817/10 EXT /10 vc/jh/ps 6