§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the nature of the partial declassification of the Schengen documentation. [156974]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeThe rules on the classification of Council documents, including Schengen documents, are set out in Council Decision 2000/527/EC of 14 August 2000. The vast majority of Schengen documents are categorised as "limite" and are not therefore classified within the meaning of the Decision. The Council considers it necessary to classify certain documents containing sensitive operational information. However, even classified documents are subject to the provisions of Council Decision 93/731/EC of 20 December 1993 on public access to Council documents. Any request for access to a classified document is considered on its merits. A decision to refuse access to classified documents is ultimately subject to review by the Court of Justice in Luxembourg.