Making EU decisions more visible to the public: how transparency in the Council has developed since 2001

A common criticism of the EU’s legislative process is that decisions are often made behind closed doors, particularly when government ministers negotiate agreements in the Council of the European Union. Jørgen Bølstad and James P Cross present findings from a study on how transparency in the Council has developed since 2001, when formal rules were agreed to regulate the release of legislative records to the public. They note that while the transparency of Council decisions has clearly increased during this period, there is still ample room for improvement.