Access Info's Advocacy for Greater EU Transparency The access to information requests filed by Access Info are only the beginning of a long journey towards our goal of greater transparency in the European Union. Using this research, we can then write reports on the state of transparency in the European Union, make recommendations based on our specific expertise, and rally

European Union Principles on Access to Parliament, Council and Commission Documents Background The European Union’s equivalent of an access to information law has the formal title of Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding Public Access to European Parliament, Council and Commission Documents (henceforth, Regulation 1049/2001). It grants members of the public and legal entities the right to access documents held, transmitted or received by

Proposed Amendments to EU Access to Documents Regulation 1049/2001 In 2008, after a relatively short seven years of application during which the European Commission lost a number of key cases overturning its refusals to grant access to documents, it proposed a complete recasting of the Regulation 1049/2001. The justifications for this include bringing it into line with the Lisbon Treaty

Recommendations on DG Trade Vademecum submitted to EU Access Info Europe and Corporate Europe Observatory on 6 April 2010 submitted a new round of comments to the EU’s Directorate General for Trade on its internal guidelines for access to documents, the controversial “Vademecum” first leaked to the public in March 2009 and revised by DG Trade in June 2009 following

Access Info’s Access to EU Documents Requests Access Info firmly believes that an access to information law is meaningless unless it is actually used. Apart from that, making requests is an excellent way to monitor the state of transparency within the European Union. It also provides us with opportunities to push for greater transparency by taking legal action, for example.