European Commission to make new proposal on the Regulation on public access to EU documents - the state of play

- Commission move to break the "institutional impasse"
- Commission proposal fails to reflect changes in the Lisbon Treaty: all documents concerning the legislative process should be made public as they are produced

see full story on: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/mar/02eu-access-regulation-state-of-play.htm

The European Commission Programme for 2011 (ref no: 2011/SG/006) states that, in March, it will put forward a proposal to amend the Regulation on public access to EU documents (1049/2001) with the stated aim of:

"Incorporate in regulation 1049/2002 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents the changes brought about by the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (Article 15(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) extending the regulation scope to all institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the European Union."

This proposal by the Commission begs two big questions:

1) Does Article 15.3 of the TFEU in the Lisbon Treaty have wider implications than simply proposing to extend the scope of the Regulation to "all institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the European Union"?

2) how will this proposal affect the April 2008 proposals put forward by the Commission for changes to the Regulation which has been stalled for nearly two years because of a fundamental disagreement between the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament leading to an "institutional impasse"?

For the background documentation and developments see: Observatory: the Regulation on access to EU documents: 2008 - 2011:
http://www.statewatch.org/foi/observatory-access-reg-2008-2009.htm