Documents
As the Legal Service is an internal service of the Commission, its documents are generally internal documents directly linked to its two main activities of providing legal advice and legal representation. Most therefore fall into one of the following categories:
- opinions of the Legal Service, drawn up to give legal advice to the Commission and its services
- pleadings and other documents submitted in court cases
The Legal Service also draws up certain other Commission documents, such as codification proposals or certain communications and guidelines.
Openness and access to documents
Like all Commission documents, the Legal Service’s documents are subject to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.
For more information on access to Commission documents see the web site Openness and access to documents.
However, it should be noted that Article 4(2) of this Regulation states by way of exception that "[t]he institutions shall refuse access to a document where disclosure would undermine the protection of: [...] court proceedings and legal advice [...] unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure". In interpreting that exception the Commission is guided by the interpretations given by the Court in its case law on the subject.