Freedom of information in the European Union
01 July 2001
This site brings together initiatives on access to documents and freedom of information in the EU
How to obtain or apply for documents from EU institutions
The new Regulation of public access to EU documents came into operation on 3 December 2001
The new Regulation (1049/2001) on access to documents (pdf file)
1.
Council's new Rules of Procedure (adopted 29 November, pdf) (
html)
2.
Decision on public access to European Parliament documents (pdf)
2a. Revised
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (link)
3. European Commission
Rules of Procedure on access to documents (html)
4. Full-text: EU/NATO:
Security Regulations (Word 97)
Security Regulations (pdf)
5. European Ombudsman publishes code on administrative behaviour: Report
"Secrecy and Openness in the European Union" by Tony Bunyan - a new case study from freedominfo.org:
Press release
Statewatch Observatory on case law in the CFI and ECJ
all the cases taken to the Court of First Instance (CFI) and European Court of Justice (ECJ) (updated 27 June 2002)
Secret Europe: news and analysis
News, features, press releases and coverage in Statewatch bulletin and News online on the struggle for openness since 1993
Sections from the Annual Report of the European Ombudsman on Statewatch's cases against the Council of the European Union (the 15 governments) on access to documents:
Statewatch (pdf)
26 July 2000 - the day of the infamous "Solana Decision" - how did Mr Solana reply to a letter he had not received? (29.6.02)
Report
Statewatch Legislative Observatory on the new Regulation
the primary source for full-text documentation and analysis on all the stages leading to the adoption of the Regulation with the unpublished Commission discussion paper, the Commission proposal, all the committee reports from the European Parliament and all the versions of the Council's position - including many documents which were leaked
Essays for an Open Europe
three essays written by Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, Professor Deirdre Curtin, Professor of the Law of International Organisations, University of Utrecht and a member of the "Meijers Committee", and Aidan White, Secretary-General of the European Federation of Journalists on the need for a new code to truly "enshrine" the citizens' right of access to EU documents and to ensure that civil society knows what measures are planned before they are adopted and is able to monitor their implementation. Thousands of copies of the "Essays" have been mailed out and downloaded from the internet.
Call for an Open and Democratic Europe
hundreds of people from across Europe have signed up to support the "Call" for access to documents, freedom of information and a democratic and accountable EU - you can sign up too
Freedom of information outside U