The 27 ministers or secretaries of state for European affairs of the European Union countries made a commitment on Thursday 23 September to act to make the decision-making process at European level “more efficient, inclusive and transparent”, so that European citizens are better informed and have more confidence in the work of the EU institutions.
Joined by the vice-presidents of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, Věra Jourová and Dubravka Šuica, as well as some thirty MEPs, the 27 ministers did not specify the initiatives that might be taken. They noted the EU Council’s decision of July 2020 to publish certain documents pertaining to the legislative procedure (progress reports, negotiating mandates) (see EUROPE 12528/13).
“Nevertheless, throughout the EU and its institutions, bodies and agencies, there is still more that we can and must do”, the letter’s signatories stress. In their view, the Conference on the Future of Europe is “a major opportunity” to discuss ways to increase the transparency of the European legislative process and to make proposals by spring 2022.
Signatory to the appeal, MEP Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, Germany) issued a statement criticising the opacity of the Council of the EU, which, despite the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU, continues to keep “thousands of documents” secret, documents relating to the institutional negotiations in trilogue, and remains silent on the positions of each Member State on a specific case.
See the letter: https://bit.ly/3kxYPZ6 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)