Public access to Council documents: 2016 report

Over 350 000 documents are listed in the Council's register, and over 70% of these are public and can be downloaded for free. That is one of the key points in the Council's 2016 report on access to documents which was approved by the Council on 22 May 2017. 

During 2016, 22 671 documents were added to the register, of which 71%, or 16 181 documents, are public. The Council's public register was consulted around 380 000 times and attracted 9% of the Council's website traffic.

To get access to a document in the Council's register that is not public from the outset any interested person can request access. If access is refused at an initial stage a confirmatory application can be made. In 2016, the Council received 2 342 initial requests for access to documents and 24 confirmatory applications, requiring the analysis of 10 232 documents. Full access was granted to 7 307 documents (of which 7 273 at initial stage) and partial access to 556 documents (501 at initial stage). More than 76 % of the documents for which access was requested were released in full, and more than 82 % either in full or partially.

For some documents access was refused on the basis of legitimate reasons outlined in the EU regulation on the access to documents. These include in particular the need to protect the Council's decision-making process and public interest with regard to international relations and public security.

• Council 2016 report on access to documents
• Search in the public register
• Request a document