WK Documents on Nature Restoration Regulation
Dear Council of the European Union,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting the texts of the Council documents coded as "WK" and diffused in the Working Groups or Coreper between February 15th 2023 and April 3rd 2023 relating to the interinstitutional file number 2022/0195 (COD) (Nature Restoration Regulation).
Best regards,
Juliette Robert
Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.
***
This notification was sent from an unattended mailbox. Please do not reply.
***
To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.
***
L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l'accès du public aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission. Le Secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours ouvrables à compter de l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.
***
S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.
***
Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.
***
Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.
***
Diese Nachricht wurde automatisch generiert. Bitte nicht antworten.
***
Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.
***
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
[1]www.consilium.europa.eu | [2][email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Ms Robert,
On 28.04.2023, the time-limit for replying to your application was
extended by 15 working days, until 25.05.2023.
However, the General Secretariat is still conducting consultations
necessary to the examination of your request and you will be notified of a
decision as soon as possible.
We apologise for the delay in replying to your request.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
[1]cid:image001.jpg@01D59F80.749EEBA0
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
[2]www.consilium.europa.eu | [3][email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
References
Visible links
2. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
3. mailto:[email address]
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your request for access to documents.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
[1]www.consilium.europa.eu | [2][email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Council of the European Union,
Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.
I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request 'WK Documents on Nature Restoration Regulation':
1. In conformity with Article 7(2) of Regulation 1049/2001, Juliette Robert (the “Applicant”) hereby submits a confirmatory application regarding the Council’s decision of 30 May 2023 which refuses full access to certain documents that have been identified as falling under the scope of the request for access to documents submitted on 3rd April 2023 which was registered under Ref. 23/0993-mj/nb (the “Request”).
2. Namely, the confirmatory application is strictly connected to the following documents: WK 1822/2023 ADD 5, WK 1822/2023 ADD 6, WK 2345/2023 INIT, WK 3215/2023 INIT, WK 3769/2023 INIT, WK 3769/2023 ADD 1 (the “Requested Documents”).
3. The Council's decision refuses access to the Requested Documents on the basis of the exception from disclosure protecting court proceedings and legal advice provided by Article 4 para. (2), 2nd indent of Regulation (EC) 1049/2001.
4. The Applicant would like to thank the Council for its research and disclosure of the other documents falling within the scope of that Request.
5. The Request was refused on the ground that full disclosure of the abovementioned parts would undermine the protection of legal advice in the meaning of Article 4(2), 2nd indent of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, as it would make known to the public an internal opinion of the Council Legal Service, intended for the members of the Council. The Applicant is of the view that justifying non-disclosure by stating that disclosure would make the documents known to the public is a non-legal and redundant argument, and is insufficient grounds for refusal.
6. Article 4 para. (2) 2nd indent of Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 provides that “the institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of court proceedings and legal advice unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.”. Interpreting that provision, the Court of Justice of the European Union has established a three-step approach that each EU institution must follow regarding disclosure of legal advice (CJEU, 1 July 2008, Kingdom of Sweden and Maurizio Turco v Council of the European Union, C-39/05 P and C-52/05 P). Firstly, the document in question must relate to legal advice. Secondly, the institution concerned must examine whether the disclosure of the legal advice would be harmful to its interest in seeking and receiving frank, objective and comprehensive legal advice. The risk of that interest being undermined must be reasonably foreseeable and not purely hypothetical. Thirdly, if an institution takes the view that disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of legal advice, that institution must ascertain whether there is any overriding public interest justifying disclosure.
7. Firstly, the Applicant does not challenge the assessment made by the Council that the redacted parts in the Requested Documents do relate to legal advice given by the Legal Service of the Council.
8. Secondly, the Council must show in a detailed manner that the legal opinion requested is particularly sensitive or has a particularly wide scope that goes beyond the context of the legislative process in question (General Court, 18 September 2015, Samuli Miettinen v Council of the European Union, T-395/13, par. 27)
9. In its decision, the Council however, does not state its reasons for refusing access to the documents. It seeks to justify non-disclosure of the Requested Documents based on the generic statement that “it would make known to the public an internal opinion of the Council Legal Service, intended for the members of the Council.”, which “may lead the Council to display caution when requesting written opinions from its Legal Service, which would actually and specifically undermine the institution’s ability to receive frank, objective and independent legal advice”.
9. The Council does not explain how displaying the documents would be harmful for its interest in seeking legal advice, may that be in relation with the independence of the Legal service or the ability for the Council to defend its position court proceedings. It only mentions that the Council would have to display caution in seeking legal advice.
10. Furthermore, in its reasoning, the Council does not differentiate between the different documents containing parts that refer to legal advice given orally (for example document WK 1822/2023 ADD 5) and given in written format. Also, no difference is made in the justification depending on the content of the legal advice, even though the Council’s decision mentions “a question which is particularly sensitive” for one document and the “legal service’s assessment on the legal basis of the proposal.” In this regard, the Council does not provide any argumentation as to how and why that particular question is sensitive.
11. The same criticism can be expressed with regards to the legal basis justification. The General Court has indeed held that questions relating to the choice of the appropriate legal basis are legal questions not going beyond the normal context of the examination of legislative proposals (General Court, 18 September 2015, Samuli Miettinen v Council of the European Union, T-395/13, par. 41). The general claim that the legal advice relates to the legal basis does not per se justify that the legal advice is not to be disclosed.
12. This lack of justification also speaks for the hypothetical nature of the alleged risk.
13. The Council has thus failed to demonstrate that the disclosure would be harmful to its interest in seeking and receiving frank, objective and comprehensive legal advice in a non-hypothetical and foreseeable manner.
14. Alternatively, the Council did not provide satisfactory reasons as to why there is no overriding public interest for the disclosure of the documents.
15. The risk of undermining the protection of the independence of the Council’s legal service must be weighed up by the Council against the public interest in disclosure (General Court, 18 September 2015, Samuli Miettinen v Council of the European Union, T-395/13, par. 26). In its decision, the Council considers that “on balance, the principle of transparency which underlies the Regulation would not, in the present case, prevail over the above indicated interests so as to justify the disclosure of the abovementioned parts of the requested documents.”. It assesses that the principle of transparency is the public interest at stake here. It does not however provide reasons as to why this interest does not outweigh the alleged risk. The only element of concrete application of legal reasoning to the specific case is the expression “in the present case”.
16. This lack of justification does not offer the possibility for the Applicant to justify the overriding public interest. The Applicant would still like to remind the Council that the General Court has recently reiterated that the “openness in the legislative process that contributes to conferring greater legitimacy on the institutions in the eyes of Union citizens” and that the “principles of publicity and transparency are therefore inherent in the legislative procedures of the European Union” (General Court, 25 January 2023, De Capitani v. Council of the European Union, T-163/21, par. 38). Furthermore, the alleged risk would be circumvented by the facts that the Requested Documents only refer to legal advice and do not reproduce them in full, as can be understood in the Council’s decision.
17. Hence, the Council has failed to demonstrate that there is no overriding public interest for disclosing the documents referring to legal advice.
A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: http://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/wk_do...
Yours faithfully,
Juliette Robert
Your message has been received by the Transparency and Access to Documents Unit of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. All requests for access to documents are treated on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to
European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. The General Secretariat will reply to your request within 15 working days upon registration of your request. Requests received before 5 PM on a working day are registered on the same day. Requests received after 5 PM are registered on the first following working day.
***
This notification was sent from an unattended mailbox. Please do not reply.
***
To see the text of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, please click here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
If the link doesn't open when you click on it, please copy - paste it into your browser.
***
L'unité "Transparence et accès aux documents" du Secrétariat général du Conseil de l'Union européenne a bien reçu votre message. Toutes les demandes d'accès à des documents sont traitées conformément au règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001 du 30 mai 2001 relatif à l'accès du public aux documents du Parlement européen, du Conseil et de la Commission. Le Secrétariat général répondra à votre demande dans un délai de 15 jours ouvrables à compter de l'enregistrement de celle-ci. Les demandes reçues les jours ouvrables avant 17 heures sont enregistrées le jour même. Les demandes reçues après 17 heures sont enregistrées le premier jour ouvrable suivant.
***
S'il vous plaît ne répondez pas à ce message, car il a été envoyé d'une boîte aux lettres sans surveillance.
***
Pour consulter le texte du règlement (CE) n° 1049/2001, cliquez ici:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Si le lien ne s'ouvre pas lorsque vous cliquez dessus, veuillez copier-coller l'adresse dans votre navigateur.
***
Ihre Nachricht ist bei der Dienststelle "Transparenz und Zugang zu Dokumenten" des General-sekretariats des Rates der Europäischen Union eingegangen. Alle Anträge auf Zugang zu Dokumenten werden gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 vom 30. Mai 2001 über den Zugang der Öffentlichkeit zu Dokumenten des Europäischen Parlaments, des Rates und der Kommission bearbeitet. Das Generalsekretariat wird Ihnen binnen fünfzehn Arbeitstagen nach Registrierung Ihres Antrags eine Antwort übermitteln. Anträge, die an einem Arbeitstag vor 17.00 Uhr eingehen, werden noch am selben Tages registriert. Nach 17.00 Uhr eingehende Anträge werden am erstfolgenden Arbeitstag registriert.
***
Diese Nachricht wurde automatisch generiert. Bitte nicht antworten.
***
Den Text der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1049/2001 finden Sie hier:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...
Wenn sich der Link beim Anklicken nicht öffnet, kopieren Sie den bitte mit "copy/paste" in Ihren Browser.
***
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
concerning your confirmatory application.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
[1]www.consilium.europa.eu | [2][email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
References
Visible links
1. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
2. mailto:[email address]
Dear Ms Robert,
Please find attached a letter from the General Secretariat of the Council
in reply to your confirmatory application for public access under
Regulation 1049/2001.
Yours sincerely,
Transparency
General Secretariat of the Council
Directorate-General Communication and Information - COMM
Directorate Information and Outreach
Information Services Unit / Transparency
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 175 - B-1048 Bruxelles/Brussel - Belgique/België
[1]www.consilium.europa.eu | [2][email address]
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the writer and may not
be regarded as stating an official position of the Council of the EU
Clause de non-responsabilité: Les avis exprimés n'engagent que leur auteur
et ne peuvent être considérés comme une position officielle du Conseil de
l'UE
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════