The EUR-Lex website provides direct free access to European Union law, including treaties, legislation (and summaries), case law (and summaries) and legislative proposals.

To submit a request for access to EU documents from one of the EU Institutions under Regulation 1049/2001 you will need to fill in the appropriate form:

• on the Commission website
• on the Council website
• on the European Parliament website
  where it is also worth finding the annual reports which give details of success rates with requests.

In case of refusal, an appeal can be made and if still rejected the citizen can refer the case to the European Ombudsman or the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Access Info Europe runs a service to help request documents. You can download their guide from their website and consult their other materials such as publications and toolkits.

For extensive background, see Statewatch.

AsktheEU.org has been built by civil society organisations to help members of the public like you to get the information and help you want, including on how to request EU documents.