Article 1
Beneficiaries Citizens of the Union and natural or legal persons residing or having their registered office in a Member State shall exercise their right of access to Commission documents under Article 255(1) of the Treaty and Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 in accordance with these detailed rules. This right of access concerns documents held by the Commission, that is to say, documents drawn up or received by it and in its possession. Pursuant to Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, citizens of third countries not residing in a Member State and legal persons not having their registered in one of the Member States shall enjoy the right of access to Commission documents on the same terms as the beneficiaries referred to in Article 255(1) of the Treaty. However, pursuant to Article 195(1) of the Treaty, they shall not have the option of laying a complaint before the European Ombudsman. But if the Commission wholly or partly refuses them access to a document after a confirmatory application, they may bring an action before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in accordance with the fourth paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty.