Considerations on COM(2020)257 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 on the electronic publication of the Official Journal of the EU

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dossier COM(2020)257 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 on the electronic publication of the Official Journal of the EU.
document COM(2020)257 EN
date February 20, 2024
 
(1) Council Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 ( 6 )provides that the Official Journal of the European Union published in electronic form (‘the electronic edition of the Official Journal’) is to bear a qualified electronic signature or qualified electronic seal as defined in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ). Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 also sets out an obligation to publish the qualified certificates for electronic signature or for electronic seal and renewals thereof on the EUR-Lex website to allow the public to verify the authenticity of the electronic edition of the Official Journal.

(2) Authenticity, integrity and inalterability of the electronic edition of the Official Journal can be ensured by a variety of technical means, inasmuch as they offer comparable guarantees to those provided by a qualified electronic signature or qualified electronic seal as defined in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, including future innovative solutions and technologies. The need to amend Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 each time a new solution or technology is to be employed or when the legal framework governing them changes should be avoided.

(3) It is necessary to lay down clear rules reconciling the requirement of inalterability of the Official Journal with the obligations stemming from Union legislation on the protection of personal data or from decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union to have certain information removed vis-à-vis the public.

(4) For the sake of legal certainty, where in exceptional situations it is not possible to publish the Official Journal on the EUR-Lex website and the publication is done by other means, in a printed or electronic version, it is necessary to ensure that the electronic edition subsequently made available to the public on the EUR-Lex website becomes the only authentic edition and that it produces legal effects.

(5) In order to provide the maximum benefit to citizens in terms of ease of access to the Official Journal, as well as to ensure legal certainty, it is also appropriate to confer exclusive authenticity status on the electronic edition of the few authentic printed editions of the Official Journal published after the entry into force of Regulation (EU) No 216/2013.

(6) Regulation (EU) No 216/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly.