Openness and Transparency in the European Union

From the ratification of the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty) through to the Intergovernmental Conference which led to the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), considerable emphasis has been placed on opening up the work of the European Institutions to the public, on rendering the decision-making process more transparent and on giving free access to the Union's official documents.
This publication, which is the result of a conference held at the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht, brings together papers dealing with various aspects of transparency and openness.
Apart from the well-known issue of access to documents, other aspects are covered such as the position of the Member States, the role of the media and of the European Ombudsman, and also the broader political context of legitimacy and democracy in the European Union.