By Toby McIntosh
The European Investment Bank has failed repeatedly to respond to a request by Eye on Global Transparency for a document.
The document at issue is a “Cooperation Agreement” signed by the EIB and other multilateral banks – the foundational document for a consortium. The consortium governs the Global Emerging Markets database, a jointly created database containing information on their investments. The EIB serves as the administrator of the GEMs database. The Cooperation Agreement is not to be found on the GEMS website.
The EIB relied on the Cooperation Agreement on Nov. 14, 2025, when it refused to disclose the minutes of a 2023 meeting of the GEMS governing body, the Steering Committee. (See EYE article, Dec. 13, 2025.)
So the EIB is depending on a secret document to keep secret the minutes of the GEMs Steering Committee.
What follows is chronicle of efforts to request the Cooperation Agreement, which the EIB has ignored.
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Background of a Saga
It is also another chapter in a longer story. In the beginning, in brief, EYE requested a copy of the GEM Steering Committee minutes, filing a request Dec. 18, 2023, under the EIB Transparency Policy.
After the EIB initially rejected EYE’s request, EYE on April 29, 2024, appealed to the EIB Complaints Mechanism, the internal appeals body. A year later, the Complaints Mechanism, on April 25, 2025, recommending that the EIB reconsider its blanket denial and redact only those portions of the minutes covered by the Transparency Policy. (See EYE article, May 12, 2025.)
In the absence of an EIB reply after five months, EYE on Sept. 29, 2025, asked for help from the EU Ombudsman. The Ombudsman agreed to look into the matter, setting Nov. 14, 2025, as the deadline for a response by the EIB.
On the deadline, the EIB provided EYE with portions of a short summary of the GEMs minutes, but totally denied any access to minutes themselves, relying significantly on the GEMS Cooperation Agreement.
EYE on Dec. 8, 2025, filed supplementary information with the EU Ombudsman concerning the substance of the EIB’s blanket denial of the minutes. Objecting to the use of the Cooperation Agreement to restrict transparency, EYE wrote: “It is clear … that EIB has ceded decision-making over the release of the requested minutes to the Steering Committee” and is in “direct conflict” with the EIB Transparency Policy and European Union Law.
On Dec. 2, 2025, the Ombudsman’s office advised that it “has now decided that it is necessary to inspect the document concerned.”
Requesting the Cooperation Agreement Unsuccessful
EYE on Nov. 17, 2025, asked the EIB for a copy of the Cooperation Agreement. The request was sent to the designated intake address, infodesk@eib.org.
However, there was no acknowledgement of the request, despite several follow-up inquiries (Nov. 20, Dec. 2 and Dec. 29), both to the intake address and to several persons in the communications department.
The EIB’s policy says it will reply to most requests within 15 working days. Even for “complex requests,” the policy says, “The EIB shall, however, endeavour to provide a reply to such complex requests no later than 30 working following receipt.”
In the absence of any reply, EYE attempted to bring the delay to the attention of the EU Complaints Mechanism (EIB-CM), which among other duties handles appeals concerning the Transparency Policy. On Jan. 3, 2026, EYE requested “that the EIB-CM look into this apparent violation of the EIB Transparency Policy.”
Surprisingly, because the EIB-CM in the past has been responsive, there has been no reply, despite follow-up e-mails on Jan. 20, 23 and 29 requesting at least an acknowledgement of receipt.
Yes, checked the “spam” file.
‘Confirmatory Request’ Not Acknowledged
On Feb. 16, 2026, EYE sent the EIB a “Confirmatory Application” concerning the previous request.
Article 7.4 of EU Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 allows requesters to make a “confirmatory application” when institution fails to reply within the prescribed time-limit.
Confirmatory application “shall be handled promptly,” according to the Regulation, “Within 15 working days from registration of such an application” except in “exceptional cases” such as those involving a long document or a large number documents.
After 15 days, EYE received no reply.
Under the Regulation, “Failure by the institution to reply within the prescribed time limit shall be considered as a negative reply and entitle the applicant to institute court proceedings against the institution and/or make a complaint to the Ombudsman, under the relevant provisions of the EC Treaty.”
EYE has brought this additional episode to the attention of the EU Ombudsman.
