03/07/2020 | Maldita.es In Spanish-La Secretaría General de la Presidencia del Gobierno “no cumple con la consideración de la transparencia, el acceso a la información pública y las normas de buen gobierno como ejes fundamentales de toda acción política”. Read more...
Newtral | 27/06/2020 In Spanish- Esta semana, la Comisión para la Reconstrucción en el Congreso ha terminado su trabajo. Han sido semanas de actividad en las que los diputados que forman este grupo —subdividido a su vez en cuatro áreas— han recibido a representantes del Gobierno, expertos de distintas áreas o miembros de la sociedad civil, así como propuestas ciudadanas. Read more...
Madrid, 25 June 2020 – The lack of publication of SDG data on Gender Equality in Europe is partly down to many countries not having laws requiring it to be collected, according to participants in a webinar on “Opening Up SDG 5” held by Access Info Europe on 18 June 2020. As a result, civil society organisations don’t have the data to engage in evidence-based policy debates. Access Info found in a recent survey which looked into the publication of SDG data that, on average, only 57% of gender equality data was published across Europe. Discussing the reasons behind
Madrid, 17 June 2020 – Access Info Europe, represented by its director, Helen Darbishire, has been elected to the UNCAC Coalition Coordinating Committee, the network that coordinates civil society activity in monitoring and promoting the UN Convention against Corruption. Access Info was elected to one of the two international seats on the UNCAC Coalition Coordinating Committee, with 75.7% of the votes cast in the first round of voting. Access Info joins Transparency International, represented by Gillian Dell, as the two international organisations on the UNCAC Coalition Board. In its nomination for the UNCAC Coalition Coordinating Committee, Access Info identified three
Madrid, 9 June 2020 – Access Info Europe today joined 119 NGOs from across Europe in calling on the European Union to protect freedom of expression and information by acting to end the use of gag lawsuits to harass and silence investigative journalists and public interest defenders. In an open letter, the organisations expressed their concern about SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), which are brought by powerful actors intending to intimidate and prevent watchdogs such as journalists, activists, trades unions, media, and civil society organisations, from holding them accountable. The organisations warned about the harmful effects of this type
Global Investigative Journalism Network | 03/06/2020 As countries rapidly spend billions of dollars to fight the coronavirus pandemic, digging into government contracts is taking on a new urgency. The crisis poses new challenges. Officials are using emergency purchasing procedures, creating barriers to public disclosure, and slowing down their handling of requests under freedom of information laws. Read more...
Madrid, 1 June 2020 - Pro-transparency human rights organisation Access Info Europe is glad to launch AsktheEU Pro, an improved version of the AsktheEU.org account designed to upgrade journalists and researchers’ experience when requesting access to documents from the EU bodies and institutions. The new advanced functionalities of the platform include the possibility for Pro users to keep requests and responses private for 3, 6 or 12 months’ periods, which can be extended for an unlimited number of times. Access Info believes that this will help journalists and researchers wishing to keep their stories or investigations confidential before they are
Liberties | 29/05/2020 Spain has suspended many requests for access to information, but during times of crisis it is especially important that people can exercise this fundamental right. Read more...
Madrid, 27 May 2020- Access Info Europe and 17 NGOs from Latin America today called on governments in the region to guarantee the right of access to informaton during the Covid-19 pandemic, to prioritise the disclosure of emergency-related information and to ensure that information reaches the most vulnerable populations. The proposal also highlights the negative consequences of the absence of policies on transparency and access to information. These include the authorities’ lack of coordination as well as limited performance of the agencies guaranteeing bodies for the full exercise of the right of access to information, which the text defines as
Madrid, 22 May 2020 – Citizens across Europe need better access to information to participate in decision-making processes at European, national, and local level. This is one of the main findings by Access Info Europe and partners of the “YOU4EU” project, which has been completed following two years of research and campaigning on civic participation. An extensive study carried out by Access Info (Spain), Belgrade Open School (Serbia), GONG (Croatia), Institute Alternative (Montenegro) and PiNA (Slovenia) also found that policy-makers are failing to communicate adequately with citizens, even though the public is keen to learn about their governments and institutions,