Debate: Public access to documents – annual report for the years -
Date: THURSDAY, 13 JULY 2023
Speaker: Věra Jourová
Language: EN

The Commission applies the highest standards of transparency. The Commission proactively publishes a wide variety of legal, policy, administrative and other documents on different websites and registers. They are available on the Register of Commission Documents, Register of Delegated Acts, other corporate registers or Eur—Lex. The already mentioned regulation on public access to documents remains the legal instrument for the handling of applications for access to documents. It lays down the general principles and limits of the right to public access to documents and provides the means of redress available against the final decision of the institution, a complaint to the European Ombudsman or an action before the Court. I would like to draw your attention to two legislative proposals, for the recast of this regulation has been pending for quite a long time. The Commission does not see for the moment the willingness from co—legislators to engage in a revision process, but it stands ready to support further legislative and political discussions, including to modernise the legislative framework on access to documents, adapting it to the reality of the 21st century, also considered a case law over the last 20 years and the Ombudsman recommendations. We do not count with pigeons, but we count with the means of modern communication, electronic communication, which you mentioned. In September 2022, the Commission launched a new IT system for handling access requests through an electronic online portal, namely ‘Electronic Access to Commission Documents’. It consists of two parts: a new case management system, allowing Commission staff to handle the applications for access to documents, and a new online portal allowing citizens to manage their requests for access, receive guidance and search for documents disclosed to other applicants. This tool already proves to be extremely useful and recognised by the public as some three out of four of all requests are introduced through the public portal. The statistical data for access to documents clearly demonstrate a high level of transparency as full or partial access is granted to a vast majority of requested documents, with the highest number of requests for access to documents – I can give you data for 2021 – 8 420 initial and 355 confirmatory applications received. Transparency is indeed part of the daily business of all the Commission’s Directorates—General and services. The 2021 statistics show that access to documents requested by citizens was fully or partially granted in 74% of initial cases. Wider or even full access was further granted in more than 38% of the cases reviewed at confirmatory stage under the regulation. This proves that the Commission is indeed a very transparent institution. The preliminary data for 2022 that will be presented in the forthcoming Commission annual report on public access to documents confirm this positive trend, as well as the high interest of the general public to obtain access to documents held by the Commission. All in all, the data clearly demonstrate the openness of the European Commission and the commitment of the institution to the right of access to documents as part of its overall transparency policy in all circumstances, including in the unprecedented pandemic situation which characterised the past years. I would like to take this opportunity to recall that the Commission proposed to withdraw the Regulation 1049 from 2001. Should the European Parliament agree to the withdrawal of the two relevant proposals, we stand ready to engage in legislative work. I said it several years ago and I am repeating it today.