Madrid, 5 October 2026 – Access Info Europe is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2026 Helen Darbishire Award, selected from 26 submissions from across Europe.

The high quality and diversity of this year’s submissions made the selection particularly challenging, and led the Evaluation Committee to select six finalists. Together, they demonstrate the range and impact of work using the right of access to information to advance human rights, the rule of law, transparency and government accountability, anti-corruption efforts, or environmental protection.

Six projects showing how access to information can drive positive change

Finalist: Exposing overpricing and unequal distribution of EU-funded food aid in Hungary – Nominee: Zala Krisztina (Átlátszó)

Over several years, Átlátszó used persistent freedom of information requests and litigation to investigate an EU-funded food aid programme for people living in poverty in Hungary. Documents obtained through access to information requests revealed significant overpricing of basic food products purchased with EU funds, while analysis of distribution data showed that municipalities with high levels of poverty received few or none of the food parcels intended for people in need.

The investigation brought the use of public funds under scrutiny, contributing to a criminal investigation by Hungary’s National Tax and Customs Administration and an investigation by the Integrity Authority. In 2025, Hungary’s State Audit Office independently confirmed the investigation’s key findings on significant overpricing and compromised transparency.

Finalist: Open Olympics 2026: A Campaign and a civic network for the transparency of the Milano Cortina Winter Games – Nominee: Leonardo Ferrante (Libera)

Open Olympics 2026, coordinated by Libera, is a civic monitoring initiative examining transparency, public spending and the environmental impact of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Launched in 2024, it brought together more than 20 environmental and Alpine organisations, local watchdogs and data experts, combining coordinated freedom of information requests, data analysis and grassroots monitoring.

The initiative contributed to the creation of the Open Milano Cortina 2026 open data portal, launched in October 2024 and covering planned infrastructure projects worth €3.38 billion. Through FOI requests, data analysis, legal action and three monitoring reports, the network has scrutinised procurement, public spending and environmental impacts, bringing greater public accountability to the Games and their associated infrastructure.

Finalist: Bad Practice – Nominee: Kira Zalan (OCCRP)

Bad Practice is a cross-border investigation led by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which brought together 101 journalists, editors, fact-checkers and producers from 48 media outlets to examine weaknesses in medical licensing systems across Europe. Using more than 60 freedom of information requests, public records, court documents, data analysis and on-the-ground reporting, the investigation identified more than 100 doctors who had been disciplined or lost their licence in one country while remaining licensed to practise in another.

The investigation exposed significant gaps in cross-border information-sharing and the EU’s alert system for sanctioned medical professionals. Its findings prompted at least 88 investigations by licensing authorities in several European countries, resulting in at least 25 suspensions or licence revocations, as well as parliamentary scrutiny and calls for reform at national and EU level. The European Commission has since introduced new guidance and training for national authorities and accelerated technical improvements to the EU alert system.

Finalist: Top EU judges financial holdings raise troubling questions – Nominee: Pascal Hansens (Investigate Europe)

Investigate Europe examined the financial declarations of members of the Court of Justice of the European Union alongside a database of thousands of judgments and opinions, identifying more than 70 cases in which declared private financial interests were closely connected to matters handled by more than 20 judges and advocates-general.

When the Court refused requests for earlier versions of declarations of interest, the team pursued a confirmatory application, sought legal and transparency expertise, complained to the European Ombudsman and retrieved archived declarations. The investigation prompted the Ombudsman to open an inquiry into the Court’s disclosure practices, while more than 35 judges and advocates-general updated their declarations, in some cases providing more detailed information. The findings also triggered parliamentary scrutiny and an internal review of the Court’s system for managing declarations of interest.

Finalist: Unaccompanied Children Sleep on the Floor in Shifts in Greece’s ‘Model Camps’ – Nominee: Lydia Emmanouilidou (Solomon)

A cross-border investigation by Solomon, WAV Recherchekollektiv and Republik examined conditions faced by unaccompanied migrant children in Greece’s EU-funded “Safe Zones”. Using access-to-information requests, field reporting and interviews, the team obtained internal documents showing that authorities were aware of overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, insufficient staffing and limited access to essential services.

The investigation contributed to increased public and political scrutiny of the conditions faced by unaccompanied migrant children, including a written question to the European Commission by Members of the European Parliament. It also contributed to pressure that coincided with the temporary closure and reorganisation of the Safe Zone on Samos, with children transferred to safer accommodation. The team’s persistent efforts to obtain documents also led to a European Ombudsman finding calling on the EU Agency for Asylum to take a more transparent approach to public access to certain documents.

Finalist: UK Supermarket Seabass Linked to Devastating Overfishing in Senegal – Nominee: Brigitte Wear and Hazel Healy – DeSmog

DeSmog, in collaboration with The Guardian, carried out a two-year investigation tracing farmed fish from Senegalese fishmeal factories through Turkish fish farms to British supermarkets. Using freedom of information requests, trade data, company records and on-the-ground reporting, the investigation revealed how this global supply chain affected food security and the livelihoods of women fishworkers in Senegal, as well as the local environment.

Published in May 2025, the investigation linked five British supermarkets to Turkish seabass fed with Senegalese fishmeal and generated international coverage and responses from supermarkets, regulators and civil society. Its findings contributed to scrutiny of the fishmeal industry, while the data was subsequently used by media partners in other European countries to investigate the same supply chain.

A diverse field of investigations and initiatives 

The six finalists were selected from a wider field of projects addressing issues of clear public interest through access to information. Other submissions included an investigation into Malta’s social housing system and the property interests of the minister responsible for housing; an analysis of C-section rates across Spanish hospitals, revealing a significant difference between public and private providers; and extensive investigations into sexual assaults and safeguarding failures in Scottish hospitals.

Some submissions examined accountability for alleged war crimes in Gaza, including an investigation identifying alleged perpetrators of killings of civilians and another seeking information on EU-funded infrastructure that had been destroyed. Other projects investigated Europol’s use of parallel data-processing systems containing personal data, and repeated occupational safety, and environmental violations at a major battery factory in Hungary

An award celebrating the power of FOI

The Evaluation Committee assessed the submissions against six criteria: public interest, inclusivity, inspiration, adaptability, collaboration and sustainability, alongside the tangible impact achieved through the use of the right of access to information.

The winner of the Helen Darbishire Award 2026 will be announced on 8 October 2026 in Madrid, during Access Info Europe’s 20th anniversary celebration. The award presentation will form part of an evening marking two decades of Access Info Europe’s work to advance the right to know, bringing together members of the organisation’s community, partners and friends.

Access Info Europe thanks all 26 applicants and nominators for sharing their work and congratulates the six finalists selected for this year’s award.