Article 16 Access to documents and confidentiality

Requests for access to Committee documents shall be handled in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f1. The Commission shall decide on requests for access to those documents pursuant to its Rules of Procedure^f2. If the request is addressed to a Member State, that Member State shall apply Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.

The Committee's discussions shall be confidential.

Documents submitted to members of the Committee, experts and representatives of third parties shall be confidential, unless access is granted to those documents pursuant to paragraph 1 or they are otherwise made public by the Commission.

The members of the Committee, as well as experts and representatives of third parties, shall be required to respect the confidentiality obligations set out in this Article. The Chair shall ensure that experts and representatives of third parties are made aware of the confidentiality requirements imposed upon them.