Transparency

Access to documents

Access to documents is a core pillar of the general principle of transparency and good governance (see Article 15(3) TFEU). According to this principle, the public is entitled to access to all documents produced by EU institutions or bodies. 

The detailed rules for EU institution and bodies are set out in  Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. In line with Article 23(1) of  Regulation (EC) No 58/2003  laying down the statute for Executive Agencies, the Agency adopted on 15 October 2025 detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. This Decision will be published soon.

Scope of access to documents

Requests for access to documents are handled as an application under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. A document means any content, whatever its medium (written on paper or stored in electronic form or as a sound, visual or audio-visual recording), concerning a matter relating to the policies, activities and decisions falling within the Institution's sphere of responsibility. 

These rules apply also to all documents held by the Agency, that is to say, documents drawn up or received by it and in its possession. If access is requested for a publicly available document, the reply should consist of the publication reference or the respective web address.  

Member States may ask for documents either under the principle of sincere cooperation laid down in Article 4(3) TEU, or under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. In the latter case, they are bound by the same conditions and limitations as other applicants. 

Treatment of applications for access to documents

An acknowledgement of receipt will systematically be sent and, within 15 working days from registration of the application, the Agency will either provide the applicant with a reply or inform about the need to extend the time to reply by a maximum of 15 additional working days. 

The Agency may refuse the applicant access to certain documents or part thereof, to safeguard public or private interests or to safeguard the confidentiality of internal consultations. Such refusal shall be based on the exceptions provided for in Article 4 of the Regulation. 

The exceptions to the right of access are grouped as follows: 

1. Refusal is justified if disclosure of the document would undermine the protection of: 

a. the public interest as regards: 

• public security,
• defence and military matters,
• international relations, or
• the financial, monetary or economic policy of the Community or a Member State; 

b. privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular in accordance with Community legislation regarding the protection of personal data; 

2. Refusal is justified if disclosure would undermine the protection of: 

• commercial interests of a specific natural or legal person, including intellectual property;
• court proceedings and legal advice;
• the purpose of inspections, investigations and audits; 

unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of the document requested. 

3. Refusal is also justified if disclosure would seriously undermine the decision-making process of REA in respect of any document: 

• drawn up by the Agency for internal use or received by the Agency, which relates to a matter where the decision has not yet been taken;
• containing opinions for internal use as part of deliberations and preliminary consultations within the Agency, even after the decision has been taken. 

unless there is an overriding public interest in disclosure of the document requested. 

If only parts of the document are covered by any of these exceptions, the remaining parts of the document may be released. 

In case the document requested emanates from a third party, REA may consult the third party before deciding whether to release the document. In this respect, a Member State, consulted as third party, may request the Agency not to disclose a document originating from that Member State without its prior agreement (Article 4 of the Regulation). 

The applicant will receive the document in an existing format (paper copy or electronic format) and in an existing language version.  

If the applicant is unsatisfied with the Agency’s reply, or in case of no reply within the allowed time, the applicant may ask the Agency to reconsider its decision, by sending a written request (this is a confirmatory application) to the Director of the Agency within 15 working days following receipt of the Agency’s reply or expiry of the time limit in case of failure to reply.

The Agency will acknowledge reception of the confirmatory application and have 15 working days to infirm or confirm its initial decision. 15 additional working days may be required to revise the Agency’s decision. If the initial position is confirmed or if the applicant is still unsatisfied of the level of disclosure, the applicant may contest the confirmatory reply, by submitting a complaint to the European Ombudsman or bringing an action before the General Court of Justice (Articles 7 and 8 of the Regulation). 

Documents already accessible to the public

Documents disclosed by REA under Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 shall become available to the public at large (this is the “erga omnes” effect). In this respect, documents disclosed by REA since the entry into force of REA’s Steering Committee’s decision may be consulted directly without the need to send a request for access to document. These documents are listed in REA’s Register of documents to which access was previously granted.

Search for documents

The Commission’s policy on proactive publication is part of the institution’s broad transparency policy, which includes, together with access to documents, multiple policies in place setting rules for proactive publication for specific categories of documents. Executive agencies being aligned with the Commission in this respect do proactively publish some documents on the basis of several regulations that are therefore not access to documents related.  

In this respect, as far as REA is concerned, the following pages may be consulted (non-exhaustive list): 

• Legal base, plans and reports emanating from REA;
• More specifically, regarding program management under REA’s responsibility, the transparency obligation is embedded into the IT eProcurements and eGrants suit, which provides the proactive publication of documents, together with the extraction of data, via the Funding and Tender opportunities Portal. The level of details provided varies across the programmes, some programmes presenting interactive data on proposals, success rates, funded projects and participants, in addition to the list of funded projects since 2014. Access the EU Funding & Tender Portal here (link included). In particular, the Project & results sections allow to retrieve significant document;
• REA%20ACCESS%20DOCUMENTSec [dot] europa [dot] eu (The Financial Transparency System allows citizens to search through the beneficiaries of funding from the EU budget implemented directly by the Commission (at Headquarters or in EU delegations to non-EU countries), other EU bodies such as executive agencies, like REA, ('direct management') but also implemented indirectly by other international organisations or non-EU countries ('indirect management'), and beneficiaries of the European Development Fund;)
• Minutes of meetings with interest representatives – see dedicated below section.  

Requests for access to documents

Any request for access to documents must be submitted in writing, providing the applicant’s name, surname and country of residence or registration (in case the applicant is a legal person) by email to REA ACCESS DOCUMENTSec [dot] europa [dot] eu.  

Commission Decision on transparency

When meeting with interest representatives, REA applies strict transparency rules in line with Commission Decision (EU) 2024/3082. These rules require that: 

1. All interest representatives wishing to meet with REA managers should be registered in the Transparency Register 
2. Information about and minutes of such meetings are published within 2 weeks following the date of the meeting. 

Meetings of REA Management with interest representatives

All meetings involving REA managers (Heads of Unit, Heads of Department and/or Director) and interest representatives should be the subject of information and minutes, except for meetings with public authorities of the Member States or of third countries at all levels, spontaneous meetings or meetings taking place in the context of established legal or administrative procedures or based on a contractual relationship with the Commission. 

The following information on meetings must be made public: 

• the date and location of the meeting; 
• the name of the REA representative(s) holding management functions (Head of Unit, Head of Department, Director); 
• the name of the interest representative (organisation or self-employed individual); 
• the subject of the meeting.