MEPs push to improve public access to documents across the EU institutions

Access to documents reaffirmed as a fundamental right

Uneven transparency performance across EU institutions

Clear recommendations to close gaps and strengthen oversight

MEPs want citizens to have clearer, fairer and more proactive access to EU documents to strengthen transparency, accountability and public trust.

On Tuesday, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) adopted a report (by 72 votes in favour, one vote against and one abstention) on public access to the documents of EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies for the years 2022–2024. The report assesses the quality of access, identifies gaps in internal processes and sets out recommendations to strengthen transparency, fairness, public trust and democracy. These can, MEPs say, establish a modern, citizen-centred approach that makes disclosure the rule and secrecy the exception. MEPs stress that the right of access to documents is a fundamental right of every citizen, and that a strong commitment to public access can reinforce the EU’s resilience against foreign interference.

Recent developments: uneven overall progress, gaps remain across institutions

MEPs are concerned about shortcomings in the implementation of transparency rules that, in some cases, appear systemic. They point to refusals based on weak or inconsistent reasoning, the frequent use of exceptions, and unequal treatment of similar requests across institutions. MEPs also regret the lack of proactive publication and registration of legislative and preparatory documents, which prevents citizens from knowing which documents exist and undermines their right of access and ability to exercise scrutiny.

The report further highlights systematic delays, insufficient follow-up to European Ombudsman recommendations, transparency gaps in sensitive areas such as negotiations on international agreements, infringement procedures, budget implementation and trilogues, as well as difficulties in accessing documents from certain EU agencies (including the EU Agency for Asylum).

MEPs welcome the recent CJEU judgment on access to Commission documents and call on all EU institutions to proactively preserve and register official documents, which could include digital communication and text messages when they concern public affairs. They argue that deleting documents because they have been declared ‘short-lived' undermines the principles of transparency and good governance.

Key recommendations to strengthen transparency and public access to documents

To improve the implementation of transparency rules, MEPs put forward a series of recommendations, including:

ensuring accessible and fair access procedures, with individualised and well-reasoned responses in the case of refusal, allowing citizens to effectively challenge decisions;

urging the Commission to review its revised internal rules on access to documents and address concerns about their compatibility with EU law and case-law by proposing a more ambitious framework to modernise the current rules;

calling for stronger proactive publication of documents, including legislative documents and minutes or agendas of closed-door meetings;

improving digital access, clarity and administrative capacity, through clearer guidance for applicants and improved online publication practices;

establishing independent oversight of classification practices;

ensuring transparency on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in EU decision-making, including information on algorithms, training data, and impact assessments;

raising public awareness of their access-to-documents rights, through targeted information campaigns at the EU and national levels;

strengthening transparency for negotiations of international agreements and in Council decision-making, including timely access for Parliament and proactive publication of preparatory and trilogue documents;

swiftly following up on decisions and recommendations of the European Ombudsman;

making parliamentary voting data more accessible, through user-friendly online tools.

Quote

Rapporteur Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová (Renew, SK) said: “Access to documents is a fundamental right of every EU citizen, but too often they face systemic delays, over-classification, and inconsistent proactive publication. We need to ensure that transparency is the rule and secrecy the exception, ensuring timely access to documents including ones related to legislation, trilogues and international agreements. I believe that transparency increases the trust of citizens in the EU.”

Next steps

The report is expected to be tabled in plenary in March 2026.

Background

Demand for access to EU documents increased between 2022 and 2024. Parliament’s positive response rate over the period examined was 91%. The Commission, which received the highest number of requests each year (6 938 initial requests in 2024), granted full or partial access in 51% of cases in 2022, 85% in 2023 and 60% in 2024. In 2024, the Council processed more than 2,800 access requests, granting full or partial access in 85% of cases.