European Parliament
Luís Paulo Alves  (S&D ),
in writing.
(PT)
I am voting for this report because I share the rapporteur’s view that the Council text promotes a positive reform of how the
Official Journal of the European Union
(OJ) is published, increasing legal certainty and providing better public access to European Union legal acts. Nowadays, practically all users consult only the electronic form of EU legal acts. The fact that electronic versions of legal acts are not legally binding is unacceptable in itself, and creates uncertainty as to the precise content of the EU legal acts currently available in the EUR-LEX database. Moreover, consulting paper versions of the OJ is a time-consuming, costly process, and is carried out by very few users. The reform will thus increase legal certainty and decrease access costs for citizens and businesses. All these reforms should be warmly welcomed in the EU. A European Union that is less bureaucratic, more available and more accessible will only promote economic progress.

