The UK has withdrawn its opposition to the new transparency procedures at Council level, ending the European Union tradition of secretive, closed-door ministerial meetings.
EPHA welcomes the new move of the EU Council of Ministers to change their own practices, which is key both for the credibility of the EU Council, as well as for the legitimacy of the European Union in general.
The decision to televise meetings of the EU council is aimed at addressing the "democracy deficit" associated with the private meetings of EU government ministers, such as foreign ministers and the ministers of finance, who conduct nearly all their deliberations behind closed doors.
According to the Council’s Secretariat- "All public deliberations shall be broadcasted in all languages through video-streaming and there shall be an obligation for a recorded version to remain available for at least a month on the Council’s internet site."
The European Parliament already has an established tradition of televising their sessions, a useful tool for organisations like EPHA who actively lobby parliamentarians for sound and fair public health policies for Europe’s citizens.
At a time when increasing numbers of EU citizens are disengaging from the formal political process, EPHA believes the decision is a positive step in opening EU decision-making to greater public scrutiny. All efforts to promote transparency and accountability of the EU policy process are vital in maintaining and strengthening the trust of citizens.
The concern now of EPHA, as with other civil society organisations, is that the televisation of EU council meetings become the general rule, rather than the exception.
Televised discussion of Council meetings is part of a larger drive to improve transparency of the EU institutions. For more information on transparency within the EU, see these and other related EPHA links...
Green Paper on a European Transparency Initiative
