Brussels, 24/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - Following the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly's appeal for greater transparency in the European institutions, Sophie in't Veld MEP (ALDE, Netherlands), presented a Roadmap to Transparency, in Brussels, which seeks to make the EU “truly democratic”.
Boosted by a number of successes in the legal arena, particularly at the European Court of Justice and its recent ruling which found in favour of accessing documents involving the SWIFT/TFTP agreement on terrorism, in't Veld is looking to the next European Commission to ensure that Community legislation is drawn up in a less opaque way and that the public has greater access to documents.
In't Veld said that we have never had a Commissioner for Transparency. She believes that the first vice president (Frans Timmermans, Ed) should be responsible for this dossier and that his action would be subject to scrutiny. The roadmap presented by in't Veld includes 10 points, the first of which includes the “urgent revision” of access to documents, clear rules on the way documents are classified and the decisions underpinning them, easier and more rapid procedures for opposing a refusal to access documents and more robust application of legal decisions. According to in't Veld, the Commission has a tendency to circumvent these decisions. In't Veld, who is vice president of the ALDE group, is also recommending that each EU institution nominates a high-level supervisor dedicated to the task of enhancing transparency. ALDE is proposing to set up an online single platform for easier access to non-confidential EU documents. (SP)