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Home | Citizen’s Rights | Access to Documents of the European Institutions | Description

Access to Documents of the European Institutions

Legal Basis: Article 15 paragraph 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (former art. 255 TEC)

Regulation 1049/2001 was further adopted regarding public access to documents of the European Parliament, Council and the Commission. It requires each of these institutions to set up a register to allow easier access for all citizens.

Year of establishment: This right was introduced in 1993 by the Treaty on European Union.

Some statistics:In 2011 the European Commission received 6447 requests of access to documents.  Replies were given to 6055 of those. Read the latest report.

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Are you interested in discovering the reason behind a decision of an EU institution or conducting research of your own? Then accessing documents of the European Institutions, bodies, offices or agencies may be the perfect instrument for you to enforce your European rights and find the answers you have been searching for.
   

It is relatively easy to access EU documents. Most are directly available online or on the online register of the institutions.For those which are not immediately available a simple written application to the relevant EU institution is all that is required. If you continue to face problems there are many solutions; you can make a confirmatory application which brings your request further in the institution or you can complain to the European Ombudsman or appeal to the European Court of Justice.
Most texts are publicly available or easy to obtain. However, access to some kinds of classified documents can be denied.

In the interest of transparency you will rarely be denied access to documents and attempts are made to even provide partial access to these documents. However, before you begin your search you should be aware that there are a few exceptions. Access will be denied when disclosure would:

  • threaten the public interest;
  • undermine the privacy of an individual or the protection of commercial interests;
  • interfere with court proceeding or an inspection.

You should be aware that Access to Documents cases account for a large proportion of complaints to the European Ombudsman. This does not mean that this procedure is ineffective but that in certain circumstances you may have to use these procedures in combination.

A common request under this procedure is for access to the minutes of an internal meeting or the list of participants which are not directly available online. If you are carrying out research for a paper, this procedure may also prove necessary to acquire information which is not immediately made public.