Access to Information in the European Union

The last fifteen years transparency' has been one of the central themes in the European integration process. By providing more openness about its activities, the European Union tries to bring itself closer to its citizens. Transparency is considered as one of the main methods to relieve the democratic deficit'. One way of increasing transparency is to grant citizens a right to access to information. Another way is to actively publish information. Transparency is not an exclusive feature of Europ