Changes between two versions
What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report
From · draft committee report· 14 Oct 2025
on public access to documents – report covering the years 2022 - 2024
To · plenary report· 2 Feb 2026
on public access to documents – report covering the years 2022 - 2024
AI:What changed, in short
The report expands significantly, adding many new recitals and paragraphs on transparency, delays, and institutional practices.1234 It strengthens calls for proactive disclosure, criticizes the Commission's revised rules, and urges better compliance with deadlines.4789 It adds detailed statistics on access requests and decisions, highlighting systemic delays and the need for reform.56 It includes new sections on AI, agencies, international agreements, and the Aarhus Convention, broadening the scope.3810 The other changes are formal: updated references and renumbering.1234
10 changes of substance · 0 formal · 0 of wording only
Written by AI from the two texts only · read the changes before relying on it · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
+68 added · −19 removed · 14 changed paragraphs, packaging included.
Part 3 of 3: EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
This report aims to reaffirm that access to documents is a fundamental right of every citizen under the Treaties, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Union’s access-to-documents framework, and to strengthen a transparency culture that brings fairness to policy processes and public discourse. It assesses recent developments and identifies existing shortcomings—systemic delays, over-classification, uneven proactive publication, and uncertainty.
On that basis, the report advances a modern, citizen-centred approach that makes disclosure the rule and secrecy an exception. The report further aims to secure timely, well-reasoned decisions on requests; guarantee early and effective access to legislative, trilogue and international-agreement documents; and to enhance proactive registers. It seeks to ensure equal treatment of stakeholders, enable informed participation, and strengthen democratic accountability across the European institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies.