Madrid 28 September 2011 – Today Access Info Europe and the Coalición Pro Acceso will hold a round table to celebrate International Right to Know Day with members of four Spanish political parties to discuss their proposals for transparency in the next legislative period.
Spain’s two major political parties, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), currently in government, and the Popular Party (PP), have both drafted proposed transparency laws yet neither of the drafts meet with the 10 basic principles for the law established by the Spanish civil society platform, the Coalición Pro Acceso.
With elections less than two months away Access Info and other members of the Coalition have been calling on all parties to pledge to adopt an access to information law should they enter into government after the 20 November elections. An access to information law was first promised to Spanish citizens in the 2004 electoral manifesto of the PSOE party in 2004, yet seven years later Spain remains the only country in Europe with more than a million inhabitants without such a law.
“Both parties promise more transparency but until now their proposed draft laws continue to be insufficient to be able to achieve a significant degree of transparency” commented Victoria Anderica “The recognition of the principle that all public information should be available to the public should be clear and the creation of an independent oversight body to guarantee the right of access to information is essential to the proper implementation of the law; both draft laws should reflect this.”
During the round table the four parties will have the opportunity to present their party’s proposals on transparency and access to information. These proposals will then be discussed alongside the 10 principles of the Coalición Pro Acceso. The ten principles include the establishment of an independent oversight body to safeguard citizens’ right to public information and for the right of Access to Information to be recognised as a fundamental human right.
The Coalición Pro Acceso calls on all political parties to support the 10 principles. Click here to support the 10 Principles.
The round table is open to press and the public. Details of the event are on the Access Info website www.access-info.org.
The details are below:
Round Table: Proposals for transparency in the next legislative period
Speakers:
• Arturo García Tizón, PP
• David Ortega, UPyD
• Armando Recio, IU
• Por Confirmar, PSOE
18h en la Sala de Profesores, 3ª planta (Decanato)
Facultad de Ciencias de la Información
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
For more information contact:
Victoria Anderica Caffarena
Legal Researcher and Campaigner
Access Info Europe
victoria@access-info.org
+34 91 366 53 44
+34 606 592 976