European Union
The Secret State of EU Transparency Reforms
16 of 27 Member States refuse to provide information on EU transparency negotiations
Brussels/Madrid, Monday 21 March 2011: European citizens can’t find out from either Brussels or from national governments which countries are lobbying against EU transparency, according to a report launched by the NGO Access Info Europe this week.
The report is launched just before an expected ruling by the European Court of Justice on 22 March in the case of Access Info Europe vs. the Council. The pro-transparency organization is challenging the Council’s concealment of Member State positions on the reform of the EU’s access to documents rules.
After submitting access to information requests in all 27 Member States, Access Info Europe reports that only 11 countries provided any information about either their positions and/or the process of the reform of Regulation 1049/2001. Two of these, the Netherlands and the UK, only provided information following appeals.
Of the 16 countries which did not provide any information, six countries formally refused while six countries referred back to the Council despite the Council’s assertion that it was up to each Member State to provide this information, and four did not respond at all (administrative silence).
|
Information Received |
No Information Received |
|||
|
Partial release of documents |
Position |
Referral to Council |
Refusal to release information |
No response |
|
Denmark Finland Sweden Lithuania Netherlands
+ Council |
Austria Estonia Latvia Malta Poland UK |
Greece Hungary Ireland Romania Slovakia Luxembourg |
Belgium Czech Republic France Germany Slovenia Spain |
Bulgaria Cyprus Italy Portugal |
|
Total 5 countries |
Total 6 countries |
Total 6 countries |
Total 6 countries |
Total 4 countries |
To download a copy of the report, click here 
To read the press release click on your preferred format 
Global call for MEPs to protect transparency of the European Union
Over 250 organisations, journalists and campaigners call for MEPs to reject measures to limit public access to information
The European Union is engaging in a review of its access to documents regulation that could result in freedom of information being severely curtailed across Europe. The Commission is proposing changes that would reduce the number of documents available to the public and would allow Member States to veto the publication of documents submitted by them to the EU institutions. These proposals will be debated by the LIBE committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, whose final vote will define the direction in which transparency in the EU is going to go.
In response, Access Info Europe, ClientEarth and Greenpeace sent a letter on 28 January 2011 to the MEPs involved in the revision of this regulation, with the signatures of 131 Civil Socity Organisations and 56 journalists, academics and access to information campaigners, a few days before a debate on the future of this regulation was schedualed to take place. In the end, the debate was reschedualed due to time constraints and so the letter will be sent again before the official vote (date to be confirmed).
The letter
On March the 30th of 2011 - 289 signatures and counting... (152 organisations and 137 individuals). Click here to see it sign up online.
European Union Principles on Access to Parliament, Council and Commission Documents
Background
The European Union’s equivalent of an access to information law has the formal title of Regulation No 1049/2001 regarding Public Access to European Parliament, Council and Commission Documents (henceforth, Regulation 1049/2001). It grants members of the public and legal entities the right to access documents held, transmitted or received by the EU institutions.
Access Info has identified some key problems with EU transparency:
People are having problems getting access to information: the European Ombudsman's report for 2008 says that 36% of citizens' complaints relate to transparency and access to documents. But at the same time, most users of the EU's access rules are businesses rather than journalists, civil society organisations or members of the public. And even when these stakeholders might think about making requests the explanations given on the EU's websites makes it seem quite daunting (despite the fact that making requests is really quite straightforward!).
Proposed Amendments to EU Access to Documents Regulation 1049/2001
In 2008, after a relatively short seven years of application during which the European Commission lost a number of key cases overturning its refusals to grant access to documents, it proposed a complete recasting of the Regulation 1049/2001. The justifications for this include bringing it into line with the Lisbon Treaty which expands the scope of the regulation to apply to all EU institutions and all requesters. Another reason given by the Commission is the need to incorporate the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on access to environmental information into the EU’s access to documents.
Such strengthening of the right of access is welcome. Unfortunately, and despite the European Parliament's desire to strengthen the regulation in favour of greater transparency, the Commission proposal will actually limit the public's right to access EU documents.
Access Info's Access to EU Documents Requests
Access Info firmly believes that an access to information law is meaningless unless it is actually used. Apart from that, making requests is an excellent way to monitor the state of transparency within the European Union. It also provides us with opportunities to push for greater transparency by taking legal action, for example.
In general, we request information, wait for the response, and carefully analyse it to see if it is in line with international access to information standards. If it isn't, we submit a confirmatory application, which is an appeal to the body who holds the information, asking them to reconsider their decision. In some cases, if the outcome is still detrimental to the principles of transparency, we take the responsible body to Court.
Access Info's Advocacy for Greater EU Transparency
The access to information requests filed by Access Info are only the beginning of a long journey towards our goal of greater transparency in the European Union. Using this research, we can then write reports on the state of transparency in the European Union, make recommendations based on our specific expertise, and rally all those interested in their Right to Know what the EU is doing. To find out more about our work, click on one of the links below.
Partnerships
Specifically for EU access to documents campaigning, Access Info Europe has teamed up with ClientEarth and Greenpeace. We are also members of ALTER-EU and work closely with Statewatch. We are also collaborating with ECAS on a potential project to bring citizens closer to the EU institutions via a Virtual European Citizens' House (pending funding approval).
Letters
One method of campaigning is sending letters to your elected representatives. In the case of the EU these would be the Members of the European Parliament, directly elected every 5 years.
Press Releases
This section contains only Access Info's EU press releases, which are specifically about our work on the European Union. To read the other press releases by Access Info please go to the Media section.
Events
• Access Info Europe Brussels tour, 21-23 March 2011 (event summary coming up)
• European Parliament hearing on access to documents, 13 April 2010. Programme, Helen Darbishire's speech, "Wikileaks or Wiki-Lex?"
Reports
The Secret State of EU Transparency Reforms (2011)
Spreading the Word
Of course, all of this work is useless is nobody finds out about it! One of the most essential parts of campaigning is making sure that people, civil society organisations and government representatives alike know what is being done to defend our democratic rights. It is now up to you to spread the word further, there is only so much our small team can do by itself. You can also join us on facebook or follow us on twitter.
Feedback
One of the ways in which Access Info Europe can measure the impact it is having is from the reactions and responses we get to our emails and newsletters. To read some positive feedback on our EU campaigning from across the globe, visit the Feedback page. If you have something to say, just write us a quick email to pam @ access-info.org.
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