Why are the EIRs not made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000?
The EIR are made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. When the FOI Act was being enacted, the powers in section 74 of the FOI Act were included to enable the UK to comply with its obligations under the United Nations Aarhus Convention on Access to Information. Subsequently, the European Community adopted Council Directive 2003/4/EC to implement the convention for the EC. The EC legal obligation to implement the Directive has accordingly now become the more relevant legal obligation for EC member states.
