European Papers (Jun 2018)
Transparency of Legislative Procedures and Access to Acts of Trilogues: Case T-540/15, De Capitani v. European Parliament
Abstract
(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2018 3(2), 947-959 | European Forum Insight of 24 June 2018 | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. The judgment. - II.1. Factual background. - II.2. The findings of the General Court. - III. Concluding remarks. | (Abstract) On 22 March 2018, for the first time the General Court ruled on access to documents of trilogues (case T-540/15, De Capitani v. European Parliament). These are informal meetings between representatives of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, which negotiate to reach an agreement, which must subsequently be approved by those institutions in accordance with their respective internal procedures. The judgment, delivered on the appeal made against a refusal by the European Parliament to grant access to the fourth column of the multicolumn table used in an on-going trilogue, confirms that access to documents produced in the legislative procedure can be denied only if the institution requested proves that it is reasonably foreseeable, and not purely hypothetical, that full access to the documents at issue is likely to undermine, specifically and actually, its decision-making process. The General Court considered that the principles of publicity and transparency are to be applied to trilogues, since they constitute a decisive stage in the legislative process, and that exceptions provided for in the regulation regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents shall be restrictively interpreted. The judgment represents an important step towards reinforcing transparency of trilogues and democratic legislative process in the EU.
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