Transparency and Access to Documents
Transparency is a fundamental principle and one of the core values underpinning the work of ESMA.
To enable citizens to effectively exercise their right of public access to documents, ESMA makes accessible through the ESMA Library several types of documents, related to all of its areas of activity. Public users of the ESMA website are invited to use the search and filter options of the ESMA Library to find specific documents such as summaries of conclusions of meetings of its Board of Supervisors, Management Board and Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group, Consultation Papers, Reports, Opinions, Letters, Advice, Q&As, and many other types of documents such as documents providing information about the contractors of ESMA, its powers in relation to breach of Union law, or its budget.
In case a document has not readily been made available on the ESMA website, Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the Decision on Access to documents (ESMA/2011/MB/69) set out information on the exercise of the right to access to documents, namely the applicable principles, exceptions, and procedure to be followed.
The annual reports on the activities of ESMA include a dedicated section on public access to documents requests, including information on the number of requests handled by ESMA in a given year and the outcome achieved.
How to request access to documents
Requests for access to documents should:
- Clearly mention the full name of the requester and their contact details (notably email or postal address);
- Sufficiently describe at least the nature of the document to enable ESMA to identify it. In case a request is unclear, ESMA will contact requesters and ask them to better clarify the scope of their request.
While it is possible to submit a request by ordinary mail (to: Document Access Coordinator, Legal & Enforcement Department (LEX) European Securities and Markets Authority, 201-203 Rue de Bercy 75012 Paris), we encourage the submission of requests for access by email to AtD@esma.europa.eu.
Requests may be submitted in any of the official EU languages.
Procedure
ESMA has 15 working days from receiving a clear request for access to documents to assess and respond to it. This deadline may be extended pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 by a further 15 working days in exceptional cases, for example in the event of an application relating to a very long document or to a very large number of documents.
Request for access to documents may be refused or partially refused where ESMA considers that one or more of the exceptions referred to in Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 apply. In such cases, requesters can ask ESMA to review its initial assessment by submitting a confirmatory application. The same timeline applies as to the initial request.
Decisions that ESMA takes pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may be the subject of a complaint to the Ombudsman or of proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union, following an appeal to the Board of Appeal, as appropriate, in accordance with the conditions laid down in Articles 228 and 263 TFEU, respectively.
For the purposes of handling requests for access to documents, certain personal data needs to be provided to ESMA. Such data will be processed in line with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and as further specified in the relevant webpage.
Guide on the right of public access to documents
The European Ombudsman has prepared a comprehensive guide on the right of public access to documents, consisting of a shorter Q&A, translated in all official EU languages and available at the relevant webpage and a more comprehensive guide, available in English.