Author: Nino Tsukhishvili

 The right of access to information in the European Union institutions and the role of the European Ombudsman 

The right of access to information is an essential element for providing transparency of the European Union institutions, promoting good governance of the decision-making bodies and ensuring communication between the European citizens and the institutions of the European Union. The principle of transparency requires access to official documents held by the European Union institutions, knowledge of the decision-making process and giving reasons for their decisions to the European citizens. 

The purpose of the paper is to discuss the regulation of the right of access to information in the European Union institutions and the role of the European Ombudsman in the process of effective implementation of this right. 

The article will discuss the scope of the legislation, the restrictions of the right to receive information and its procedural guarantees as well as the role of the European Ombudsman in the effective implementation of the right of access to information and the latest cases decided by the European Ombudsman in this area. 

Georgia should take into consideration the main achievements of the legislative regulation of the right of access to information and the good administration practice of the European institutions to establish the best international experience on the national level and improve the effective enjoyment of the right of access to information in practice. 

The presented article was prepared in the framework of the Open Society Human Rights Internship Grant 2013.

IDFI (Institute for Development of Freedom of Information) is responsible for the ideas given in the article and they should not necessarily reflect the position of the Open Society Foundations (OFS).