The Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO) has expressed concern about the restrictive application of the right of access to information in some European states and called on authorities to respect international standards in this field. In its annual report for 2022, GRECO recalls the role that access to information plays in ensuring public transparency and in facilitating the pursuit of corrupt behaviour.
It regrets that in some countries, governments are still accorded a broad margin of discretion for determining what is in the public domain and whether to exclude certain documents from free access. Government entities are often reluctant to disclose information and prefer to apply exceptions enabling them to withhold all or parts of information requested. In addition, the application of laws on freedom of access to information is too often inconsistent across government entities, which shows the need for training to create a common understanding and application of national freedom of information laws.
GRECO’s president Marin Mrčela said: “Governments should guarantee the overall principle of transparency of public documents in practice. Any exception to the rule of public disclosure should be limited to a minimum and be thoroughly justified. When it comes specifically to public procurement, public scrutiny and access to official documents are key to effectively preventing corruption”.
In its evaluation reports, GRECO has reminded countries that they should apply the principles of the Committee of Ministers recommendation on access to official documents and the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, which require that any limitation to the right of access to official documents must be necessary in a democratic society, proportionate, and only applied if there is not an overriding interest in disclosure.
