How to request access to Commission documents

The register contains references both of documents which have already been published and of internal (unpublished) Commission documents, from the 1^st January 2001.

For published documents, a link is provided to the full text of the documents, for instance, in the EUR-Lex database, which contains the legislation at the preparation stage (COM documents), Community legislation in force, and Official Journals of the European Union since 1998.

However, to obtain a copy of an internal (unpublished) document listed in the register, you click on the little box under the document reference, fill in the electronic form and send it to us. In any case, you start by making a search in the register.

If you do not find the document you are looking for in the register, you can fill in another electronic form, in which you can describe the requested document and then send the form to us.

Of course, you can also, send your application to the document access Office either by post (European Commission, Unit SG/E/3 "Openness, access to documents, relations with civil society", B-1049 Brussels, Belgium), by fax ( +32 (2) 296 84 98), or by e-mail.

To inform the public about their right of access to documents and help them to exercise it, the Commission has published a guide explaining, in the form of questions and answers, how to obtain a document. This brochure can be obtained from Commission Representations in the Member States, Commission Delegations in non-member States and from the Euro Info-points and other information relays and networks, and on request from the Secretariat General of the Commission (Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium). This guide is also available on the Commission's Europa site (http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/citguide/index_en.htm). The "Access to Commission documents" site also contains further interesting information on transparency, and particularly the situation in the Member States.

All personal data submitted to the Commission in connection with requests for access to documents is handled strictly in accordance with Regulation 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data