Brussels, 06/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 4 April, the European Commission adopted a proposal which would give legal status to the electronic edition of the Official Journal of the European Union. At the moment, only the printed edition is legally valid. With this proposal adopted, EU citizens and businesses across Europe will have more legal certainty and save time and money. The proposal follows a trend at national level where all EU countries have electronic official journals, more than half of which have full legal status. To take effect, the proposal needs unanimous support from the Council and consent of the European Parliament.
The Official Journal (OJ) was created in 1952 for the then European Coal and Steel Community. It is the way the EU keeps its records: only legal acts published in the Official Journal are binding. Currently, and despite the fact that a majority of European citizens and businesses mainly consult the online version, only the paper version of the Official Journal is legally valid. This means that no decision taken by the Commission can be enforced based on the electronic version. If citizens want to claim a right based on what is published in the Official Journal (such as the EU Treaties) they currently need to obtain - at cost - a copy of the printed version. The Commission proposes to change this by giving legal status to the electronic edition of the Official Journal. The proposal thus broadens access and ensures that citizens' right to make themselves acquainted with EU law is enforced. The proposal will not only benefit businesses and professionals in the field of law, but will also serve citizens who want to be informed from a reliable source about the rights they benefit from under EU law.
Currently, a subscription to the paper version of the Official Journal costs about €1,000 a year. (L.C./transl.rt)