Based on a Communication from President Delors, the Commission has identified a series of first measures designed to increase the transparency of its work. These measures are specifically aimed at those members of the public who, because of their professional activities, follow Community affairs closely. A number of existing practises will be improved to increase general awareness of Commission proposals and decisions. In particular: - to prepare the Commission's work programme by October each year, to draft both the work and legislative programmes in a clearer and more accessible style and to give them more publicity. The Commisson will also seek greater involvement of the Council of Ministers in the implementation of the legislative programme. - to seek wider-ranging advice, at an early stage, on certain key proposals. The Commission will earmark in the annual work and legislative programmes those proposals on which it seeks such advice. To this end the Commission will have more recourse to green papers prior to the preparation of formal proposals. It will also use a "notification" procedure in certain cases which, through publication in the Official Journal, will make it possible for a broad range of interested persons to contribute their views and advice. - to publish Commission decisions more quickly. Commission documents will be made available more rapidly in existing Commission offices soon after their adoption. To this end the Commission will give more publicity to existing data-bases and will facilitate access to these bases. It will ensure that all documents which are of public interest are made available. - to speed up work on the process of regrouping various Community measures in one text when they deal with the same area of policy and to make proposals with regard to this codification of legislation in the 1993 legislative programme. In the meantime the Commission has started work on a number of other issues of interest to the general public. These deal with when and where the public will be given access to information held by the Commission. Also considered is the question of how to improve the way in which the Commission communicates with and informs the public at large. The result of this work will be the subject of a separate Communication to be published early next year. * * *
