Decision (EU) 2017/684 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 8 Transparency and confidentiality

1. When providing information to the Commission in accordance with Article 3(1) to (5), Article 6(1) and Article 7, a Member State may indicate whether any part of the information, be it commercial or other information the disclosure of which could harm the activities of the parties involved, is to be regarded as confidential and whether the information provided can be shared with other Member States.

A Member State shall make such an indication with regard to the existing agreements referred to in Article 6(2) by 3 August 2017.

2. Where a Member State has not identified the information as confidential in accordance with paragraph 1, the Commission shall make that information accessible in secure electronic form to all other Member States.

3. Where a Member State has identified as confidential in accordance with paragraph 1 an existing intergovernmental agreement, an amendment thereto or a new intergovernmental agreement, that Member State shall make available a summary of the information submitted.

That summary shall contain at least the following information regarding the intergovernmental agreement or amendment:

(a) its subject matter;

(b) its aim and the scope;

(c) its duration;

(d) the parties thereto;

(e) information on the main elements thereof.

This paragraph shall not apply to information submitted in accordance with Article 3(1) to (4).

4. The Commission shall make the summaries referred to in paragraph 3 accessible in electronic form to all other Member States.

5. Requests for confidentiality under this Article shall not restrict the access of the Commission itself to confidential information. The Commission shall ensure that access to the confidential information is strictly limited to the Commission services for which it is absolutely necessary to have the information available. Commission representatives shall handle sensitive information about negotiations relating to intergovernmental agreements, which is received during such negotiations in accordance with Articles 3 and 4, with due confidentiality.