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Frontex Legal Bill Risks Chilling Effect on Defence of Transparency

2020-03-05T16:39:37+01:00

2 March 2020 – Access Info today expressed its concern at the high lawyers’ bill of €23,700.81 sent by the EU’s border agency Frontex to transparency activists Luisa Izuzquiza and Arne Semsrott, after they lost an access to documents case at the Court of Justice of the European Union. The bill is for outside legal assistance as well as travel costs, although no breakdown of the precise elements has been received. The case related to a request for access to documents about naval operations carried out by Frontex in the Mediterranean as part of border control of trafficking and rescue

Frontex Legal Bill Risks Chilling Effect on Defence of Transparency2020-03-05T16:39:37+01:00

European Commission publishes Commissioners’ Expenses historical data after advocacy by Access Info

2020-02-27T12:17:17+01:00

27 February 2020 – Access Info Europe today welcomed the online publication of the European Commissioners' Mission Expenses from December 2017 to December 2019, which had been previously taken offline by the European Commission. The renewed publication of the data comes after Access Info denounced its non-availability, submitted a formal request for it via that AsktheEU.org platform, and wrote to Commissioner Vera Jourová, in charge of Values and Transparency; no response has yet been received to that letter. “We are pleased to see that minimum standards of transparency have been restored, in line with the 2017 Commission commitment to publish

European Commission publishes Commissioners’ Expenses historical data after advocacy by Access Info2020-02-27T12:17:17+01:00

The EU should open up to citizens via social media to engage them in decision making

2020-03-02T17:27:21+01:00

Madrid, 14 February 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 recommendations by Access Info Europe and partners in the publication ‘YOU4EU Policy Recommendations’, presented in Brussels on 6 February 2020 at the high-level conference “Engaging citizens for good governance in Cohesion Policy”. The publication is based on extensive research in five countries by Access Info Europe in Spain, Belgrade Open School in Serbia, Gong in Croatia, Institute Alternative in Montenegro and PiNA in Slovenia. The organisations found that European Institutions

The EU should open up to citizens via social media to engage them in decision making2020-03-02T17:27:21+01:00

YOU4EU Policy Recommendations

2020-02-14T16:45:34+01:00

The publication ‘YOU4EU Policy Recommendations’ is the result of the project ‘YOU4EU – Citizen Participation 2.0’. A list of conclusions and recommendations aimed at improving transparency and civic participation across Europe. This publication highlights that, in Europe, there is a pressing need to improve citizen participation in decision-making processes, not only at the EU level, but also at national and local levels. However, there is still a long way to go in Europe: communication channels with citizens must improve, and responses to requests must be faster and more comprehensible, leaving aside confusing administrative terminology. There is also an urgent need

YOU4EU Policy Recommendations2020-02-14T16:45:34+01:00

Call for Transparency of the EU Court of Justice

2020-02-13T18:16:50+01:00

Madrid, 12 February 2020 – Access Info today joined the organisation The Good Lobby, and nearly 250 signatories in sending an open letter to the President of the European Court of Justice, asking for their hearings to be live streamed so that there is genuine transparency in the Court's proceedings. The letter to the Court President, Konen Lenaerts, draws attention to the need of restore citizens' trust in judicial system "at a time of growing, and worrisome, populistic attacks on the judicial branch across the EU." The signatories denounce the lack of transparency of the Court's hearings, which prevents European

Call for Transparency of the EU Court of Justice2020-02-13T18:16:50+01:00

Bureau request for Russia report transparency dismissed as ‘vexatious’

2020-02-13T17:13:30+01:00

The Bureau of Investigative Journalist | 13/02/2020 No 10 has dismissed as “vexatious” a freedom of information request by the Bureau for emails between the prime minister’s office and the parliamentary committee behind the Russia report in the run up to the 2019 general election. The Bureau sought these emails because they could have shed light on Boris Johnson’s controversial decision to delay the publication of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) report into Russian influence in the UK until after the election. Read more...

Bureau request for Russia report transparency dismissed as ‘vexatious’2020-02-13T17:13:30+01:00

ACT! Fighting Corruption at Local Level

2021-08-30T12:04:02+02:00

Madrid, 11 February 2020 – The Anticorruption City Toolkit (ACT!) is a project designed to prevent corruption at local level by providing municipalities with policies and digital tools for improving the detection and reporting of corruption, for receiving information requests, and for controlling public procurement and budgeting. The project is being carried out by a pan-European consortium comprising Access Info Europe in Spain, Transparency International Italia, Avviso Pubblico, Ondata, and Openpolis in Italy, and Vouliwatch in Greece, together with the municipalities of Athens, Madrid, and Milan. During the first phase of the project, in-depth surveys were conducted to map the

ACT! Fighting Corruption at Local Level2021-08-30T12:04:02+02:00

European Commission takes historical expenses data offline! Access Info publishes expenses of the previous Commission.

2020-02-06T12:05:48+01:00

Madrid/Brussels, 5 February 2020 – Access Info Europe today condemned the removal from the European Commission website of all the previous travel expenses data of Commissioners, and has written a letter to Commissioner Vera Jourová, who is charged with Values and Transparency, calling for publication of the historical and current expenses data in an accessible, user-friendly format, in real time. Breaching a 2017 commitment to publish Commissioners' mission expenses data, a commitment that itself came about after a three-year campaign for transparency by the Madrid-based organisation Access Info Europe, the Commission has now archived all the previously published data to

European Commission takes historical expenses data offline! Access Info publishes expenses of the previous Commission.2020-02-06T12:05:48+01:00

Spain: Government should accept all UN recommendations on freedom of expression and information

2020-01-28T17:55:51+01:00

Madrid, 28 January 2020 – Access Info Europe, together with seven international and Spanish civil society organisations, today called on the Spanish Government to accept recommendations on freedom of expression and information  made by other UN member states during Spain’s review at the Human Rights Council. The recommendations were made on 22 January 2020 as part of the regular Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, and reflect those presented by civil society in its report. Priorities include urgent modification of the Penal Code and abolishing the Law on Citizens’ Security (the so-called “gag law” which restricts expression on the internet) to

Spain: Government should accept all UN recommendations on freedom of expression and information2020-01-28T17:55:51+01:00
Original content developed by Access Info Europe and is made public under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike licence.