European Ombudsman consultation on access to EU databases

The European Ombudsman has launched a consultation process within the European Network of Ombudsmen on access to information contained in databases. This follows a complaint from a Danish journalist about the refusal of the European Commission to disclose data on beneficiaries of EU agricultural subsidies. The Commission justified its refusal on grounds of confidentiality. Furthermore, it argued that the EU's rules on access to documents apply to databases only if the data can be easily retrieved.

The link address is: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/letters/en/20080319-1.htm