Tuesday 27 April 2010

Quote of the day: ACTA & transparency

"Regarding the applicant's argument that essential parts of the positions of all ACTA participants have already been disclosed on the internet, it should be recalled that the fact that the documents in question are accessible on the internet does not constitute a sufficient ground to conclude that these documents were officially released by the Council."
Source: EU Council document 8072/10 (worth reading in its entirety)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Ah ah, this is even better!!!

"As regards the applicant's argument that countries participating in the ACTA negotiations
have already given extended access to all preparatory documents to hundreds of persons
representing different interest groups, it is pointed out that some ACTA negotiating partners
have indeed agreed to consult a closed circle of stakeholders on some draft texts."

Julien, I only don't understand one thing: who is "the applicant"?
Thanks
Gio

Julien Frisch said...

The document referenced describes a request for access to information that is not public.

This request is done by a person who is called "the applicant" throughout the document in which it is explained why access is not granted to the documents requested.

Unknown said...

Yes, this was clear, but they don't say who 'the Applicant' is, right?

martinned said...

No, because that would violate the Applicant's privacy rights.

Julien Frisch said...

It depends.

Some applicants are displayed with their names, this one apparently decided that he didn't want to be public.