Regulating and Implementing Freedom of Information Regimes in the New Eu Member States: a Comparative Analysis of Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of freeaccess to public information in some of the newEuropean Union member states from a comparativeperspective and tries to highlight some of the bestpractices in this field that were incorporated oradapted by these countries. It is noted that veryoften the choice of policy of national governmentswas determined by past experiences and existingmentalities (see, for example, protection of businessdata). A sizable part of the analysis is dedicated toexceptions from the rule of free access to publicdocuments. This aspect is important becausesome of the exclusions leave room for the abuseof public bodies already reluctant to disclose publicdata. Some considerations regarding the ways inwhich appeals against the refusal of access areorganized were also presented as being relevantto the topic discussed. The last section of thepaper focuses on an issue related to free accessto public information—namely, the commercialreuse of public data. A distinction needs to be madebetween the two concepts, because they are usuallygoverned by different regimes and regulations. Theauthors conclude that, although the jurisdictionsexamined have relatively progressive legislationregarding free access to public sector information,most challenges occur in practice with regard toimplementation.