TI Position

• Public access to EU documents guarantees a more legitimate, effective and accountable EU.
• ‘Freedom of access to information’ is needed for civil society to act effectively and hold decision-makers accountable.
• ‘Active transparency’ of EU institutions promotes citizens’ participation in the EU decision-making process.

More specifically, TI demands the following regarding access to EU documents:

• On-going revision of EC regulation has to result in access to more documents compared to the current situation.
• EU Definition of ‘official document’ should be broad – not only EU legislative and policy documents, but all related documentation, in whatever form held by EU institutions or by national authorities at Member State level.
• All documents related to decision-making and voting of the European Council need to be accessible.
• Access to EU documents has to reinforce other elements of the ‘European Transparency Initiative’, such as the disclosure of EU fund beneficiaries and information on lobbying transparency.
• When EU Member State documents clearly are of legitimate public interest such as for example where exactly the EU money flows, the decision on access should not solely be left to EU Member States.

Issues

• The European Parliament has called for more access to EU documents; the Commission and Council have not.
• The European Commission does not up-date its document register sufficiently enough – a major part of documents remain inaccessible.
• Requests for access to EU documents originating from Member States are often rejected as Member States have final say over disclosure.
• Council documents do not show voting positions of EU Member States.

Press Releases

• 16 February 2009: Demand for maximum Access to EU Documents, especially to EU documents held by Council and Member States. Read more.

Written Contributions/ Consultations

• October 2008: TI’s Contribution on EC’s proposal for regulation of access to EU documents. Download here.

Agenda

• March 2009: European Parliament plenary vote on access to EU documents position

Links

• TI on access to documents.
• TI is also a member of the Freedom of Information Advocates Network that advocates for a stronger Council of Europe Convention.