Negotiating transparency: the role of institutions

Article abstract:

On 30 May 2001, a new regulation on public access to EU documents was presented and was heralded in the European press as a breakthrough for transparency. The authors argue that a focus on institutions can cast light on the negotiation processes that led to this decision, and explain the final - for realist negotiation theory puzzling - outcome. The article demonstrates the importance of institutions in EU negotiations by detailing actor interests and strategies in the transparency case, and by tracing and analysing the negotiation process that resulted in the regulation. The institutions that receive particular attention are: agenda-shaping rules, decision-making procedures and voting rules, informal norms, time tables and deadlines, and intervention by institutional actors.