The European Ombudsman, Mr Jacob SÖDERMAN, has contacted the European Central Bank to ask whether it has adopted rules on public access to its documents.
The inquiry is a follow-up to an initiative launched in June 1996, in which the Ombudsman recommended Community institutions and bodies to adopt rules about public access to their documents. In a Special Report to the European Parliament, made in December 1997, the Ombudsman reported that fourteen institutions and bodies had done so, including the European Monetary Institute (EMI) - predecessor of the ECB. The European Parliament welcomed the Ombudsman's action in favour of transparency. The new own-initiative inquiry is addressed to bodies which have been established, or become fully operational, subsequent to the original inquiry. The ECB was established in June 1998.
Clear rules on public access to documents can promote transparency and good administrative behaviour, thereby enhancing relations between European citizens and the EU institutions and bodies. Publicly available rules help both citizens to know their rights, and officials to deal accurately and promptly with requests for documents.
As well as the ECB, the Ombudsman's new own-initiative inquiry also covers the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in Bilbao, Spain, and the Community Plant Variety Office in Angers, France. They have three months in which to respond to the Ombudsman.
For further information about the own-initiative inquiry of the Ombudsman, please call Mr Ian HARDEN, Head of Secretariat, tel. + 33 388 17 23 84.