16342/09 CF/JT/mi 1DG F

COUNCIL OFTHE EUROPEAN UNIONBrussels, 17 December 200916342/09INF 293API 139JUR 472"I/A" ITEM NOTE

from : Working Party on Informationto : Coreper (part 1)/Council No. prev. doc.: 16341/09Subject : Public access to documents- Confirmatory application No 29/c/02/09Delegations will find enclosed a draft reply from the Council to confirmatory application No 29/c/02/09, as it stands after examination by the Working Party on Information at its meeting on16 December 2009.The UK delegation made the following statement:

"Given the current agreed approach on transparency within ACTA the UK agrees with theCouncil’s response to the FOI access to documents request. We consider that the Annex, whichincludes MS positions and that of other ACTA partners, should not be disclosed as this would undermine the protection of international relations. However, we consider that the first page of thedocument can be disclosed as it is a brief of a meeting on criminal provisions and includes no text. Para 12 of the EU response reflects this by granting partial access.More broadly with respect to ACTA the UK considers that transparency is crucial to ensure thelegitimacy of the agreement and to stop the spread of rumours. We believe that the lack of transparency is unhelpful and do not believe that it is in the public interest."

16342/09 CF/JT/mi 2DG F

The Permanent Representatives Committee is accordingly asked to suggest that the Council, at itsnext meeting, record its agreement to the draft reply annexed to this document as an "A" item.The Annex is available in English only. ______________________

16342/09 CF/JT/mi 3ANNEX DG F

ANNEXDRAFTREPLY ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL ON ..................TO CONFIRMATORY APPLICATION No 29/c/02/09made by e-mail on 18 November 2009,pursuant to Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001,for public access to document 14696/09 (RESTREINT UE)

The Council has considered this confirmatory application under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001(OJ L 145 of 31.5.2001, p. 43) and Annex II to the Council's Rules of Procedure (Council Decision2009/937/EU, Official Journal L 325, 11.12.2009, p. 35) and has come to the following conclusion:1. The applicant refers to document 14696/09 (RESTREINT UE), which comprises an outcomeof proceedings of the meeting of the "Friends of Presidency" Group on 14 October 2009during which the Group discussed the draft position of the EU Member States on the Criminal provisions in Chapter 2 of the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).2. In its reply dated 4 November 2009, the General Secretariat refused public access to thisdocument pursuant to Article 4(3), first subparagraph, of the Regulation (protection of theCouncil's decision-making process).3. In his confirmatory application dated 18 November 2009, the applicant points out that internalclassification is irrelevant to the decision on the right of access to documents under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Moreover, the applicant refers to a European Parliamentresolutions calling on the Council to ensure the widest publicity of ACTA-related documents.The applicant therefore claims that there is overriding public interest in disclosing documentson ACTA.4. Having thoroughly examined the requested document and carried out internal consultations,the Council has come to the conclusion set out below.