Classified information in light of the Lisbon Treaty

The revision of Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding public access to documents coincides with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. It highlights the lack of general regulation of the classification of 'sensitive' documents in the EU and the absence of transparency in that field. The needs of democratic governance call for a modification of this situation, in order to effectively protect citizens’ rights of access to documents and to ensure a normal exercise of the Parliament's prerogatives.