Regulation 1049/2001 reflects the intention to mark a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are made as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen. It seeks to achieve the aim of making decisions as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen by granting the public a right of access to documents of the institutions in all the areas of activity of the European Union, subject to certain exceptions that are based on the need to protect defined objective public and private interests. This right of public access to documents of the institutions enhances the democratic nature of the EU institutions