Cypriot Presidency prepares for agreement on access to EU documents Madrid/Brussels, 9 July 2012 – The Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) has decided to accept the challenge of reaching an agreement on the revision of the EU access to documents Regulation (Regulation 1049/2001), despite the previous Danish Presidency’s decision to abandon the negotiations for lack of agreement earlier this year. The reform of the regulation, which guarantees the public the right to request EU documents and to receive them within 15 working days, has stumped EU decision-makers for almost four years as a fundamental disagreement

Denmark drops reform of EU access to documents rules as disagreements prove insurmountable 20 June 2012 – The Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU yesterday gave up on trying to reach an agreement between the European Commission, the Parliament and the Member States on reform of the rules that govern public access to EU documents. With the European Parliament standing firmly in favour of greater transparency for citizens, and the European Commission pressing for amendments to the Regulation that would exclude entire classes of information or narrow the definition of a document, the agreement hinged on an agreement

British and German governments urged to act for more EU transparency Madrid/London/Berlin, 19 June 2012 – Today, Access Info Europe, with the support of 4 British and 6 German civil society organisations, called on the British and German Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Ministries of Justice to reconsider their goverment’s reportedly anti-transparency position on the reform of Regulation 1049/2001 regarding public access to EU documents. See letter to the British government here: See letter the German government here: This action is part of Access Info’s campaign to stregthen transparency within the European Union. The revision of Regulation 1049/2001 has been

Last window of hope for EU transparency talks still open: Danish Presidency urged to broker agreement Brussels/Madrid, 16 June 2012 – With inside EU sources indicating that the Council and the European Parliament are still ready to make a deal on limited but essential reforms to EU access to documents rules, NGO Access Info Europe today called on the Danish Presidency to make an urgent last minute push to reach an agreement. See letter to Danish government here: Access Info Europe understands that the Council of the EU could be ready to agree with the European Parliament on a limited