ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: ADVOCATE GENERAL SLAMS COUNCIL SECRECY.

The background.The Case (C-353/99) arose out of the Council's November 4, 1997 Decision to refuse access to a Council working document on common criteria for arm exports. It argued the document contained sensitive information, disclosure of which could harm the EU's relations with third countries. On July 19, 1999, the Court of First Instance ruled that Council should consider giving partial access to the document. The Council, backed by Spain, launched an appeal against this judgement, while Denmark, France, Finland and the United Kingdom supported Ms Hautala.The Opinion.Crucially, the Advocate General has said that right of access concerns the content of a document and not its substantive form. While access can be restricted in order to protect the public interest, this exception must always be interpreted narrowly and should be in proportion to the goal sought. In this case, he maintains the Council refusal did not abide by the principle of proportionality. The extra work which removing the restricted parts of a document might involve does not justify depriving citizens the right to partial access to information, says Mr Leger. He added that this exercise is common practise in many Member States and generally does not pose...