Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 13 / 2019 Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 13 - Año: 2019 - Págs.: 307 a 328 310310 I In the first chapter1, produced by Irene Araguás Galcerá, several general consider-ations are formulated respecting the regulatory norms regarding the right of access, and the limits to which they are subject. The regulatory antecedents to the right of access to public information represent expression of that expressed in the contents of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of December 7, 2000. Ar-ticle 41 of this regulatory text proclaims the “Right to good administration”, specifying in its section 2 that this right includes, among others, “(…) the right of every person to accede to the file affecting him, within respect for legitimate rights of confidentiality and of professional and commercial secrets.” In correlation with this precept, Article 42 recognizes the “Right of access to documents” and specifies that “Every citizen of the Union or every physical or judicial person residing or having social domicile in a member State has the right to accede to the documents of the European Parliament, of the Council and of the Commission.” This precept finds its basis on the technical plane in Article 15 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (former Article 255 TEC), through which the institutions, organs and organisms of the Union are advised to act with the greatest possible respect for the principle of openness so as to promote good governance and to guarantee the participation of the civil society. All to be done in conformity with the principles and conditions established in agreement with this section. It should be made explicit that these provisions are developed by Regulation (EC) no. 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of May 30 2001, rela-tive to access by the public to documents of the European Parliament, of the Council and of the Commission, which has the objective of guaranteeing in the most complete manner possible the right of public access to documents and of determining the gen-eral principles, conditions and limits (for reasons of public or private interest) to be regulated in accord with Section 2 of Article 255 of the EC Treaty. Likewise, it is of undeniable interest to cite Agreement number 205 of the Council of Europe on access to public documents, dated 18th June 2009. Its Article 2 sets forth the scope of the “Right of access to public documents”, stipulating that “1) Each Party shall guarantee the right of anyone, with no discrimination of any kind, to accede, upon 1 I wish to express my deep gratitude, honor and admiration to His Excellency Mr. Jose Manual Bandrés Sanchez-Cruzat, Magistrate of the Administrative-Contentious Courtroom of the Supreme Court, for the magnificent and exquisite prologue to the work, from which I highlight: “(…) The information society opens new perspectives on the focus and understanding of the limits on the right of access to public information, for it has represented a profound change in public life and in the relationship between governors and citizens. Professor Eduardo García de Enterría maintains that the confidence of the people in their institutions is a basic factor of democracy. Therefore, public officials assume the responsibility of carrying out their functions with absolute impartiality, objectivity and transparency, in order to achieve the re-establishment of a Public Administration which is permanently visible and unconditionally observable by the citizenry.”
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