Report from the Commission on the application in 2014 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents

The effective implementation of the public's right to access documents held by the EU institutions is one of several means by which the EU seeks to increase transparency and accountability towards its citizens. President Juncker's Political Guidelines for the Commission contain a strong commitment to increased transparency. This commitment has subsequently been put into practice in several ways:

- In November 2014, during the first month of its mandate, the Commission gave a boost to transparency by committing to publish information about who meets its political leaders and senior officials and to provide greater access to documents relating to the negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the United States.

- The new Commission also decided that Commissioners, Cabinet members and Directors General should only meet interest representatives who have signed up to the Transparency Register, a register which sheds light on those seeking to influence policy-making in the EU Institutions, the issues they follow and the human and financial resources they deploy. The Commission has also announced its intention to table a proposal for a mandatory inter-institutional Transparency Register covering the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council.

- In May 2015, the new Commission presented its Better Regulation Agenda. This comprehensive package covering the entire policy cycle will further enhance the openness and transparency of the EU decision-making process, improve the quality of new laws through better impact assessments of draft legislation and amendments, and promote constant and consistent review of existing EU laws, so that EU policies achieve their objectives in the most effective and efficient way. This transparent approach will also apply to secondary legislation, in the form of delegated and implementing acts.

The present report focuses on the right of access to documents, which is a cornerstone of the Commission's approach to transparency, supporting the Commission's proactive publication of a wealth of information on its website. The report provides information on the application of these rules by the Commission, including data on the number of access requests and the disclosure rate of documents. The report covers the year 2014 and is based on statistical data which are summarised in annex.

ESO: Background information: Navigating the maze: the difficulty of accessing EU documents http://www.europeansources.info/record/navigating-the-maze-the-difficulty-of-accessing-eu-documents/

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