WORK ON REGULATION ON TRANSPARENCY.

Work is continuing between the Parliament and the Council of Ministers on the implementation of Regulation 1049/2001 on public access to documents, which is due to take effect from December 3. Several new elements have been added to the equation, first and foremost a letter from Council President Louis Michel to the President of the Parliament, Nicole Fontaine, concerning the establishment of an inter-institutional committee (see European Report 2623 for further details). Mr Michel outlines two options defined by the Council's "Information" group. One notes that a majority of delegations are keen that the body should be led by the Secretaries General of the institutions concerned. Procedures for the involvement of political circles would then have to be decided. The Council believes the most appropriate solution would be to take advantage of existing channels for political dialogue, such as informal trialogues, rather than establishing new bodies. The second option, according to Mr Michel, would be to bring the Council round to Parliament's analysis and therefore consider the introduction of an inter-institutional committee made up of political representatives at the highest level.The Council's General Secretariat has simultaneously drafted a proposal for an inter-institutional agreement guaranteeing uniform application of the Regulation. This proposal stipulates notably that:- where an institution has received a request concerning a document in its possession, drawn up or transmitted to it by another institution and not yet published by that institution, and if it believes it is logical that that document should be divulged, it should inform the institution that drafted the documents of its position and...