Sven Giegold

Transparency of EU legislation: Parliament must allow citizens access to trilogue documents without obstacle race

On 22 March the EU’s General Court had ruled, in the case de Capitani v Parliament, that Parliament must in principle grant access, on specific request, to documents relating to ongoing trilogues. Sven Giegold asked Parliament President Tajani now for all 127 ongoing trilogues to publish the 4 column documents pro-actively. These documents contain the positions of Commission, Parliament and Council as well as compromises achieved between them. Short ago, Parliament’s Legal Affairs committee  (JURI) decided not to appeal against this ruling, thereby accepting it finally. Yet, according to our counting, only in 4 out of 127 ongoing Trilogues, 4 column tables have been published following specific requests. In a letter to Parliament’s president Antonio Tajani, Sven Giegold asked to publish all 4 column-documents pro-actively.

 

MEP Sven Giegold, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on transparency, accountability and integrity commented:

“Parliament should not endanger its standing on transparency and publish all Trilog documents pro-actively. Parliament, as the chamber of EU citizens, has to lead by exemplary transparency. A king’s attitude waiting for citizens to ask for transparency as a favor does not fit our times of online transparency. Public access to trilogue documents should be a pleasant walk, not an obstacle race.

In my over 100 trilogues too often lobbyists representing wealthy interests got hold of negotiation documents even before MEPs did. The EU treaties demand equal attention of EU institutions for all citizens, public online access to legislative documents best demonstrates this equality. With populists stalking us for weaknesses to exploit for their attacks on Europe, we have to champion on European values of democratic transparency.”

OUR LETTER REQUESTING TRANSPARENCY of 4-column documents

 

Re: transparency of 4-column documents from trilogues

 

To: President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani

 

Dear President Tajani,

 

On 22 March 2018, the EU’s General Court ruled in the case de Capitani v Parliament. The General court decided that the European Parliament must in principle grant access, on specific request, to documents relating to ongoing trilogues. Our own committee of Legal Affairs (JURI) decided now not to appeal against this decision and thereby accepted it. The court case threatened to shed a bad light on our institution that otherwise has been found by Transparency International to be one of the most transparent public institution in all of the EU. Now, the court’s ruling is to be applied in letter and spirit. Yet few 4-column tables of ongoing trilogues have been published. Only in 4 out of 127 ongoing trilogues, according to our counting, Parliament published 4-column documents following specific requests. To honour the citizen’s right of access to documents of ongoing legislative negotiations, I would like to ask you to publish the 4-column documents of all 127 ongoing trilogues pro-actively.

 

Some colleagues already declared to ask for publication of 4 column documents in dossiers for which they were chosen to represent Parliament. The public might take this as reason to ask for more and more documents in specific requests. Transparency will eventually be achieved either way. Yet, I would like to ask you to use this as a chance for sending a signal: Parliament, as the chamber of citizens, should lead by exemplary transparency.

 

With kind regards

Sven Giegold

 

BACKGROUND: where to request documents

 

The NGO Access Info Europe allows for a simple way to ask for documents from the Parliament: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/body/european_parliament

 

BACKGROUND: list of ongoing trilogues

 

PUBLIC 4 column documents exist for these 4 trilogues

 

Statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations: membership, co-financing

2 tables public

 

European defence industrial development programme

1 table public

 

Binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States from 2021 to 2030

5 tables public

 

Public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents

6 tables public

 

NO PUBLIC 4 column documents exist for these 123 trilogues

 

Further macro-financial assistance to Ukraine

 

European Medicines Agency (EMA): location of the seat

 

European Banking Authority (EBA): location of the seat

 

Union Civil Protection Mechanism: prevention; European Civil Protection Pool; rescEU

 

Internal market in natural gas: pipelines to and from third countries

 

Statistics of goods transport by inland waterways. Codification

 

Insolvency proceedings: replacing Annex A to the Regulation

 

European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice

 

Centralised system for the identification of Member States holding conviction information on third country nationals and stateless persons (ECRIS-TCN system)

 

EMIR and ESMA Regulations: procedures and authorities involved for the authorisation of CCPs and requirements for the recognition of third-country CCPs

 

Harmonisation of gross national income (GNI) at market prices

 

Interoperability of electronic road toll systems and facilitating cross-border exchange of information on the failure to pay road fees in the Union. Recast

 

Safeguarding competition in air transport

 

Use of vehicles hired without drivers for the carriage of goods by road

 

New heavy-duty vehicles: monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions and fuel consumption

 

European Solidarity Corps

 

European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR): clearing obligation, reporting requirements, risk-mitigation techniques, trade repositories

 

Single digital gateway to provide information, procedures, assistance and problem solving services

 

Empowering competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market

 

Convention Area of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO): management, conservation and control measures

 

European business statistics

 

Protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work: limit values and skin notations

 

Respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications

 

Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and the free movement of such data

 

Countering money laundering by criminal law

 

Controls on cash entering or leaving the Union

 

Mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders

 

Common rules for the operation of air services in the Community: technical adaptation

 

Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters

 

Schengen Information System (SIS) in the field of border checks

 

Use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) for the return of illegally staying third country nationals

 

Proportionality test before adoption of new regulation of professions

 

European services e-card and related administrative facilities

 

Legal and operational framework of the European services e-card

 

Adapting a number of legal acts to Articles 290 and 291 TFEU (Commission delegated and implementing acts)

 

Adapting a number of legal acts in the area of justice to Article 290 TFEU (Commission delegated acts)

 

Services in the internal market: notification procedure for authorisation schemes and requirements related to services

 

Environmental reporting: procedural rules

 

Spirit drinks: definition, presentation and labelling; use of names in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs; protection of geographical indications

 

Integrated farm statistics

 

Promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. Recast

 

Energy performance of buildings

 

Common rules for the internal market in electricity. Recast

 

Internal market for electricity. Recast

 

European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators. Recast

 

Risk-preparedness in the electricity sector

 

Energy efficiency

 

Governance of the energy union

 

Framework for the recovery and resolution of central counterparties

 

European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS): Europol tasks

 

European travel information and authorisation system (ETIAS)

 

Union regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering, technical assistance and transit of dual-use items. Recast

 

European Electronic Communications Code. Recast

 

Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications

 

Copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes

 

Financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union: simplification

 

European statistics relating to persons and households

 

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop)

 

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound)

 

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)

 

Multi-annual plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks

 

2030 climate and energy framework: inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry

 

Union resettlement framework

 

Common procedure for international protection in the Union

 

Qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection and content of the protection granted

 

Reception of applicants for international protection. Recast

 

Prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing: transparency of financial transactions and of corporate entities

 

Conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly skilled employment

 

Audiovisual media services: changing market realities

 

Third countries whose nationals are subject to or exempt from a visa requirement: Kosovo

 

Criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person. Recast

 

Eurodac system for the comparison of fingerprints of applicants for international protection and for identifying illegally staying third-country nationals or stateless persons; requests for the comparison with Eurodac data. Recast

 

European Union Agency for Asylum

 

Disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches

 

Making available on the market of CE marked fertilising products

 

Conservation of fishery resources and protection of marine ecosystems through technical measures

 

Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services

 

Approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers

 

European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS): exchange of information on third country nationals

 

Contracts for the online and other distance sales of goods

 

Contracts for the supply of digital content

 

Accessibility requirements for products and services

 

Common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency

 

Packaging and packaging waste: resource efficiency. Circular economy package

 

Waste: resource efficiency. Circular economy package

 

Landfill of waste: resource efficiency. Circular economy package

 

End-of-life vehicles; batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators; waste electrical and electronic equipment: resource efficiency. Circular economy package

 

International protection: EU common list of safe countries of origin

 

Possibility for the Member States to restrict or prohibit the use of genetically modified food and feed on their territory

 

Veterinary medicinal products

 

Medicinal products for human use: authorisation and supervision

 

Medicated feed: manufacture, placing on the market and use

 

International protection: Member State responsible for examining the application of unaccompanied minors

 

Organic production and labelling of organic products

 

Touring visa

 

Union Code on Visas (Visa Code). Recast

 

Structural measures improving the resilience of EU credit institutions

 

Reduction of pollutant emissions from road vehicles

 

Cloning of animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equine species kept and reproduced for farming purposes

 

Union legal framework for customs infringements and sanctions

 

New psychoactive substances

 

EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust)

 

Aerodromes, air traffic management and air navigation services: simplifying and clarifying the legal framework

 

Implementation of the Single European Sky. Recast

 

Protection against dumped or subsidised imports from countries not members of the European Community

 

Air transport: enforcement of passenger rights; air carrier liability limits

 

Consumer product safety

 

Market surveillance of products

 

Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy: aligning the Regulation with the TFEU (Commission delegated and implementing powers)

 

Gender balance among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges

 

Conservation of fishery resources through technical measures: alignment of the Regulation with the TFEU (Commission delegated and implementing powers)

 

Fishery resources: recovery of the European eel stock; aligning the Regulation with the TFEU (Commission delegated and implementing powers)

 

Protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein. Recast

 

Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing: alignment of the Regulation with the TFEU (Commission delegated and implementing powers)

 

Single Market: simplifying the transfer of motor vehicles registered in another Member State

 

Fishery resources: recovery of cod stocks, long-term plan; aligning the Regulation with the TFEU (Commission delegated and implementing powers)

 

Allocation of slots at EU airports: common rules. Recast

 

Conservation of fishery resources: multi-annual plan for the stock of herring in the west of Scotland

 

Common European Sales Law

 

Sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea: alignment of the Regulation with the TFEU (Commission delegated powers)

 

Fish stock conservation: multiannual plan for the Baltic salmon stock

 

Car industry: tyres for motor vehicles and their trailers, fitting. Codification

 


This list of 127 ongoing Trilogues is available online at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/search/search.do?searchTab=y

with selected search options “procedure type” = “interinstitutional ordinary legislative procedure” AND “procedure status” = “ongoing” AND “key events” = “vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading”

 

To find those Trilogues with 4 column tables published, you have to search at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegistreWeb/search/simpleSearchHome.htm?language=EN with a click on “more criteria” for the title of the dossier as “Keyword” and “Register Reference” = “NEGO_CT” (this abbreviation appears in the title of 4 column documents, capital letters are decisive in this search form).