ARE THE TTIP NEGOTIATIONS TRANSPARENT?
WE INVESTIGATED WHAT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AND WHAT IS NOT.
HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND
TTIP TRANSPARENCY OVER TIME
The following timeline guides you through the development of transparency around the TTIP negotiations. Browse through, and let us know if you think we have missed something!
WHAT ARE THE KEY DOCUMENTS?
Consolidated texts are those where the EU and the US positions on issues are shown side-by-side. These documents are crucial for assessing accountability by comparing those positions with the final text both during the negotiating process and once the agreement is reached.
EU textual proposals are the European Union’s initial proposals for legal text on topics covered by TTIP. They are tabled for discussion with the US in negotiating rounds. The actual text in the final agreement will be a result of negotiations between the EU and US.
EU position papers set out and describe the European Union’s general approach on subject areas in the TTIP negotiations. They are tabled for discussion with the US in negotiating rounds.
Legal advice is produced by the Legal Service (an internal service) of the Commission and contains the Service’s opinions about drafting and conducting international negotiations, as well as a range of other Commission competences.
Non-papers are documents designed to stimulate discussion on a particular issue without representing the official position of the institution or country which drafted them. Non-papers have no official status, but can be very useful in starting debates on particularly sensitive issues.
Minutes of meetings contain (detailed) information about the participants and their positions.
Agendas show date, place, participant(s) and subject(s) of meetings.
Correspondence includes all forms of communication whatever the format in which occurred, such as email.
US documents in possession of the EU include all types of documents mentioned above which were created by the United States and are in possession of a EU institution. These documents are also covered by Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents (Article 2(3)).
WHICH INFORMATION IS PROACTIVELY PUBLISHED?
EU textual proposals
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedEU textual proposals
Since January 2015, following public pressure, the EU Commission has disclosed textual proposals on a rolling basis.EU position papers
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedEU position papers
Since January 2015, following public pressure, the EU Commission has disclosed position papers on a rolling basis.Consolidated texts
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedConsolidated texts
The EU Commission does not proactively disclose to the public ongoing or final consolidated texts that bring together EU-US positions. These are available however, to MEPs and national MPs via ‘reading rooms’.Legal Advice
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedLegal Advice
The EU Commission publishes legal reports from external experts, but it does not proactively publish the internal legal advice it receives.Drafts, non-papers and other
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedDrafts, non-papers and other
The EU Commission does not proactively disclose drafts and non-papers to the public.Minutes of meetings
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedMinutes of meetings
Advisory Group minutes of meetings are published proactively, while minutes of meetings with other third-parties (such as lobbies) are not.Agendas
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedAgendas
The EU’s transparency policy has not been extended to include publishing proactively the work agenda or list of meetings of the EU Chief Negotiator. The rules do apply to Commissioners’ and Directors-General’s record of meetings.Correspondence
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedCorrespondence
The EU Commission does not proactively publish relevant correspondence related to TTIP to the public.US docs. in possession of the EU
Scroll over to find out if they are proactively publishedUS docs. in possession of the EU
The EU Commission does not proactively disclose US documents in possession of the EU to the public.WHAT ABOUT THE REST? WHAT ARE PEOPLE REQUESTING?
We have analysed 77 access to EU documents requests related to TTIP submitted through AsktheEU.org (click here to download the raw data). Requests show an overwhelming interest for information about who discusses TTIP when meeting with the Commission, and therefore who is influencing the EU’s negotiating position. Out of these 77 requests made since 2013:
0%
requested minutes of meetings
0%
requested third-party documents
0%
requested lists of meetings
0%
requested correspondence with other institutions
0%
requested position papers
0%
requested other type of documents
SO PEOPLE ARE ASKING – THIS IS WHAT THEY GET:
Outcomes according to the type of document requested via AsktheEU.org:
Number and combination of exceptions applied to deny (full or partial) access to TTIP-related documents via AsktheEU.org: