Access to Information

The European Federation of Journalists has led a campaign for greater access to EU documents since the early 1990s. The campaign received strong support from national member unions, especially from Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland. An important milestone in the campaign has been the EC Regulation of 30 May 2001 on access to documents in the three central EU institutions - the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. This regulation is based on Article 1 of the Treaty of the European Union (the Amsterdam Treaty).

The EFJ has also been active with regard to the revision of the Regulation. It submitted a position during the Commission consultation on the revision in August 2008 and will continue to monitor legislation and practice of all EU institutions.

The EFJ also supports freedom of information campaigns at national level. It does so knowing how journalism has benefited greatly from moves towards freedom of information within member states.

The EFJ and the International Federation of Journalists are also campaigning for freedom of information acts at international level and urging for international codes of access to bodies such as the World Trade Organisations.

The EFJ is an active member of the Alter-EU Alliance for lobbying transparency and ethics regulation (http://www.alter-eu.org/).