Ref. Ares(2015)1004801 - 06/03/2015
Ref. Ares(2016)5416325 - 16/09/2016
TRANSPARENCY 
Access to documents 
European Commission– SG B4 
 
Newsletter n° 17 
6 March 2015 
 
 
Documents emanating from  
Member States delegations 
 
 
The General Secretariat of the Council requests the Commission not to consult individual 
delegations, 
but 
to 
contact 
the 
Council 
(via 
their 
email 
address: 
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxxxxx.xx)  in  case  of  any  request  for  access  to  documents  from 
national delegations represented within the Council or one of its preparatory bodies. 
Indeed,  where  a  national  delegation  is  acting  within  the  framework  of  the  decision-
making process within the Council, it has been agreed that it is acting as a member of the 
institution  (the  Council  being  composed  of  Ministers)  and  not  as  a  third-party  with 
respect to the institution1. The position of the Member States within the Council is part 
of the institution's preparatory work. 
Consequently, this means that: 
•  For documents drawn up by the Member States expressing their position in their 
capacity  of  members  of  the  Council,  the  consultation  on  the  disclosure  of  such 
documents shall be deposited with the General Secretariat of the Council, in the 
context of the Memorandum of Understanding; 
•  The  documents  from  the  Member  States  as  such,  are  to  be  considered  as 
documents  of  a  third-party  and  require  the  consultation  of  the  Member  States 
concerned. 
 
                                                            
1 
Legal position expressly agreed by the COREPER in 2002 (see 6898/02), following the opinion of the Council's 
Legal Service (see 5108/02) and the note from the Secretariat-General with ref. 6203/02. 
 
For more information: 
send an email to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx
 
 

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