The complainant was concerned that, when dealing with requests for public access concerning a number of documents, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) refuses to provide lists of the documents it identifies as falling within the scope of the request. The complainant contended that, by failing to do so, Frontex was not complying with the EU legislation on public access to documents (Regulation 1049/2001).

The Ombudsman opened an inquiry and asked Frontex to reply to the complaint. In its reply, Frontex said that there is no general obligation to provide lists of documents when replying to public access requests. The complainant was dissatisfied with this position.

After analysing Frontex’s reply, the Ombudsman recommended that Frontex should provide lists of documents it identifies as falling within the scope of an access request, unless the very disclosure of such a list undermines the interests to be protected.

In response, Frontex said it would consider providing the names of documents it has identified ‘where deemed necessary’ and ‘on a case-by-case basis’.

The Ombudsman welcomed Frontex’s willingness to provide the names of documents but remained dissatisfied that it would only do so in certain circumstances. She closed the inquiry, noting that she will monitor how Frontex applies this new practice and that, depending on possible complaints, she may revisit this matter in the future.