The European Ombudsman, Mr Jacob Söderman, has called on the Council to give a researcher access to an opinion from its Legal Service, on the Commission proposal for rules on access to documents. It was requested by a student for his post-graduate dissertation on public access to Council documents.
In a special report to the European Parliament, the Ombudsman states: "the refusal to give access is particularly surprising since it concerns an opinion about rules on access to documents". He asks the Parliament to support his call for the Council to reconsider the student's application.
The student claimed that the Council had infringed the fundamental principle of giving the public the widest possible access to documents. The Council argued that disclosure of legal opinions would undermine its ability to obtain independent legal advice.
According to the Ombudsman, a distinction should be drawn between legal opinion on draft legislation, which should normally become available to the public when the legislative process has reached a conclusion, and legal opinion in the context of court proceedings, which should normally be exempt from disclosure, as they are analogous to a communication between a lawyer and a client.
The Special Report can be found on the Internet at: http://www.euro-ombudsman.eu.int/special/en/default.htm
The European Ombudsman's conclusions will now be considered by MEPs in the Committee on Petitions, who may ask Parliament to endorse them by a vote in plenary.
Parliament has consistently voted in support of openness and good administrative behaviour. Two cases are worthy of recall: