Limits on transparency. Scope of the restricted right of citizens to access to information held by the European institutions

Abstract

All legitimate institutional system requires, today, from a democratic perspective, as a guarantee of good governance, first, a commitment to openness and transparency of its organs, that allows for the exercise of its functions accessible to the public, and second, the recognition of the means necessary to enable the development of citizens’ initiatives aimed at obtaining the information they deem appropriate to request. So, in addition to creating an effective area of freedom, which is expressed in the subject dimension of the right, it is no less important the objective aspect that it entails, because, by its realization is to achieve an effective limitation and control the exercise of public power by the European institutions. Therefore, Article 15.3 TFEU, in conjunction with Article 42 EUCFR recognizes the citizens’ right of access to documents held by the EU institutions. In this paper the significance of the right is analyzed, in order to test the sincerity of the objectives stated in the Treaties.