Public authorities and public bodies, and also private bodies, but the latter only insofar as they hold the official documents for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. A private company holding documents purely for its own commercial purposes is outside the provision.

No. It operates only through the Union or Member State access-to-documents law to which the authority or body is subject, and it is that law which determines whether, and under what conditions, disclosure takes place. Recital 154 confirms that public access to official documents may be considered a public interest and that disclosure should occur where it is provided for by such law.

The disclosing body still needs a basis under Article 6(1), typically point (c) for a legal obligation to disclose or point (e) for a task in the public interest, and the access legislation contemplated by Article 86 can supply the legal basis required by Article 6(3). Article 86 signals that such national balancing rules are compatible with the Regulation rather than replacing Chapter II.

No. The article demands a reconciliation of access with the right to data protection, so the national law must balance the two rather than simply overriding one, and any further processing of the disclosed data remains subject to the Regulation under the ordinary rules on material scope in Article 2.