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Article 86
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Processing and public access to official documents

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Nat. Regulation
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(154)This Regulation allows the principle of public access to official documents to be taken into account when applying this Regulation. Public access to official documents may be considered to be in the public interest. Personal data in documents held by a public authority or a public body should be able to be publicly disclosed by that authority or body if the disclosure is provided for by Union or Member State law to which the public authority or public body is subject. Such laws should reconcile public access to official documents and the reuse of public sector information with the right to the protection of personal data and may therefore provide for the necessary reconciliation with the right to the protection of personal data pursuant to this Regulation. The reference to public authorities and bodies should in that context include all authorities or other bodies covered by Member State law on public access to documents. Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (14) leaves intact and in no way affects the level of protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data under the provisions of Union and Member State law, and in particular does not alter the obligations and rights set out in this Regulation. In particular, that Directive should not apply to documents to which access is excluded or restricted by virtue of the access regimes on the grounds of protection of personal data, and parts of documents accessible by virtue of those regimes which contain personal data the re-use of which has been provided for by law as being incompatible with the law concerning the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data.

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(72) Whereas this Directive allows the principle of public access to official documents to be taken into account when implementing the principles set out in this Directive,

The GDPR

The right to personal data protection cannot be an absolute obstacle to the communication of administrative documents. For this reason, Article 86 stipulates that the personal data in official documents held by a public authority or a public body or a private body for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest may be disclosed by the authority or body in order to reconcile public access to official documents with the right to the protection of personal data.

Recital 154 stipulates that “public authorities and public bodies” should be understood to mean authorities and bodies governed by the law of a Member State in the area of the public access to documents.

These communications must however be in compliance with the law of the Union or the Member State to which the public authority or the public body holding the said administrative documents is subject.

The Directive

The Directive did not address the problem of the access to administrative documents and its reconciliation with the data protection (see however recital 72).

Potential issues

The Regulation refuses to unify the rules in order to ensure the difficult balance between the right of access to administrative documents, data protection and reliance on national law (even though a Union law may also address it).

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Summary

European Union

European Union

CJEU caselaw

C-710/23 (3 April 2025) - Ministerstvo zdravotnictví

On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:

1.      Points 1 and 2 of Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation)

must be interpreted as meaning that the disclosure of the first name, surname, signature and contact details of a natural person representing a legal person constitutes processing of personal data. The fact that that disclosure is made for the sole purpose of enabling the identification of the natural person authorised to act on behalf of that legal person is irrelevant in that regard.

2.      Article 6(1)(c) and (e) of Regulation 2016/679, read in conjunction with Article 86 of that regulation,

must be interpreted as not precluding national case-law which requires a controller, being a public authority responsible for reconciling public access to official documents with the right to the protection of personal data, to inform and consult the natural person concerned prior to the disclosure of official documents containing such data, provided that such an obligation is not impossible to implement and that it does not require disproportionate effort and, therefore, it does not result in a disproportionate restriction on public access to those documents.

Judgment of the Court 

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Regulation
1e 2e

Art. 86

Personal data in official documents held by a public authority or a public body or a private body for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest may be disclosed by the authority or body in accordance with Union or Member State law to which the public authority or body is subject in order to reconcile public access to official documents with the right to the protection of personal data pursuant to this Regulation.
1st proposal close

No specific provision
2nd proposal close

Art. 80a

Personal data in official documents held by a public authority or a public body or a private body for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest may be disclosed by the authority or body in accordance with Union law or Member State law to which the public authority or body is subject in order to reconcile public access to official documents with the right to the protection of personal data pursuant to this Regulation.
Directive close

(72) Whereas this Directive allows the principle of public access to official documents to be taken into account when implementing the principles set out in this Directive
Czechia
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Act No. 106/1999, on Free Access to Information, as amended

Art. 8a

(1) The obligated entity shall provide information concerning the personality, expressions of a personal nature, or the privacy of a natural person, as well as personal data, only in accordance with the legal regulations governing their protection.

(2) The obligated entity shall provide personal data concerning a public figure, public official, or public administration employee that pertains to their public or official activities or to their functional or employment status.

Art. 8b

Recipients of Public Funds

(1) The obligated entity shall provide basic personal data regarding the person to whom it has provided public funds.

(2) The provisions of paragraph 1 do not apply to the provision of public funds under laws governing social welfare, the provision of health services, unemployment benefits, state support for building savings, and state aid for regional development.

(3) Basic personal data under paragraph 1 shall be provided only to the following extent: first name, last name, year of birth, municipality where the recipient has permanent residence, amount, purpose, and conditions of the public funds provided.

Art. 8c

Disclosure of Individuals’ Income

(1) The obligated entity shall provide information regarding the amount of income of a person to whom it has provided or is providing public funds constituting income from employment or official benefits under the Income Tax Act

(a) as

1. a public official to whom obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act applied or apply,

2. an advisor to the President of the Republic, a member of the Government, a deputy member of the Government, or the head of a central administrative authority not headed by a member of the Government, or

3. a member of its statutory, management, supervisory, or control body, or

(b) if the applicant demonstrates a public interest in the disclosure of information regarding the amount of that person’s income and such public interest outweighs the interest in protecting that information in the specific case.

(2) Information on the amount of income pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be provided to the extent of the first name, last name, functional, job, or other similar classification, and the amount of public funds to which the person is entitled, before taxes and other mandatory deductions, for the period specified in the request. When providing information pursuant to the first sentence, Article 5(3) shall not apply.

Art. 20

(…)

(7) The following are excluded from inspection of the file: parts of the file containing information that is the subject of the request and has not yet been provided pursuant to it; documents and larger bodies of information from which the requested information cannot be easily extracted; and personal data of a person who could be directly affected by the provision of the requested information, with the exception of personal data already known to the person inspecting the file.
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