Debate: The time the European Commission takes to deal with requests for public access to documents
Date: WEDNESDAY, 13 MARCH 2024
Speaker: Elisa Ferreira
Language: EN

As you know, transparency is one of the objectives of the von der Leyen Commission and underpins any action that the Commission undertakes. With respect to statistics and delays, the Commission provided detailed elements in response to the European Ombudsman’s strategic inquiry on this matter. The Commission indeed receives the highest number of applications for public access to documents among all the institutions. This trend is confirmed in the latest annual report for the year 2022. The number of initial applications received by the Commission in 2022 reached 7 410. As regards confirmatory applications requesting a review by the Commission of the initial replies fully or partially refusing access, their number reached 418 in 2022, which reflects an increase of almost 17.8% in comparison with 2021. The Commission welcomed most of the Ombudsman’s recommendations, which largely correspond to its current practices. The Commission acknowledges the importance of the timely handling of requests for access to documents. It is striving to ensure that requests are processed within statutory deadlines, and notes that most requests for access to documents are handled effectively within the deadlines provided for by Regulation 1049/2001. In this respect, the Commission would like to reiterate that the European Ombudsman’s findings of maladministration concern the confirmatory stage of the access to documents procedure, which represents only a limited part of the total applications received by the Commission: 4% in 2021 and 5% in 2022. Moreover, the statistics confirm the strict interpretation of the exceptions by the Commission, as the requested documents are fully or partially disclosed in more than 77% of cases at the initial stage, and that wider or even full access was granted in more than half of the cases reviewed at the confirmatory stage in 2022. This data not only confirmed the openness of the Commission, but also the commitment of the institution to the right of access to documents as part of its overall transparency policy. In any event, the Commission has taken action in this matter. Firstly, the Commission has reinforced the team in charge of confirmatory applications, which should bring tangible results in the medium term. Secondly, the Commission proactively publishes a wide variety of legal, policy, administrative and other documents on different websites and registers. The Commission has taken additional steps in improving its systems for proactive publication and request handling, such as the updated version of the Register of Commission Documents, which became operational on 17 May 2021. Also, the EASE portal was launched in September 2022 to facilitate public access to documents and interaction with requesters. It is part of the Commission’s effort to improve its systems for proactive publication and request handling, and allows citizens to submit initial and confirmatory applications, see their ongoing and closed requests, receive replies electronically, and search for documents disclosed to other applicants. It additionally constitutes a new case management system, allowing Commission staff to handle the applications for access to documents. Finally, the Commission duly notifies the applicants regarding the available remedies. It is noteworthy that in 2022, the European Ombudsman found instances of maladministration in only two of the 44 inspected cases. In the same vein, in 2022, the General Court handed down 26 judgments or orders in proceedings to which the Commission was a party in relation to decisions concerning access to documents, and it ordered the full or partial annulment in only three cases. This further confirms the high standards of the Commission’s implementation of Regulation 1049/2001, in all circumstances, including in the unprecedented pandemic and geopolitical situation which characterised the past years.