Netzpolitik | 26/01/2017 German - Die Organisation Access Info Europe ruft zur Übernahme von Anfragen an die EU-Kommission auf, um Reiseabrechnungen der EU-Kommisssare offenzulegen. Bisher war die Institution wenig transparent. Dabei ließ sich Kommissionspräsident Jean-Claude Juncker alleine einen Flug nach Antalya 63.000 Euro kosten. Read more...
Politico | 26/01/2017 English - Campaigners are demanding that the European Commission release detailed travel costs of official trips taken by European commissioners. Access Info Europe, a NGO, is urging citizens and activists to make systematic document requests for the 2016 travel expenses of the 28 European commissioners. Read more...
Madrid, 26 January 2017 - Access Info Europe today launched a public campaign to crowd source access to EU documents requests to obtain full information on the spending by EU Commissioners on travel costs. CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CAMPAIGN! The campaign follows the discovery from a request by Access Info team member Alba Gutiérrez that Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spent €63,126 on an air taxi to Turkey for the G20 summit. At same time, the Commission’s contracts with private air companies that provide such services was denied to another Access Info campaigner, Andreas Pavlou. After
Brussels/Madrid, 25 January 2017 – Over forty civil society organisations have endorsed a joint letter initiated by Access Info Europe and Oceana to urge Members of the European Parliament to vote in favour of a proposed Regulation that will help fight illegal fishing by increasing transparency about the owners of EU flagged vessels. The Regulation on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets will set up an EU-managed public register of authorisations for vessels fishing outside EU waters, and has already been approved by the Parliament’s Fishing (PECH) and Development (DEVE) committees. A key feature of this future register is
The first request On 6 May 2014, Access Info requested “documents which provide detail on the amounts paid in salaries, travel costs and travel expenses, [and] other expenses to each of the EU Commissioners and to Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for the years 2012 and 2013.” The Commission’s first answer contained the global figures for travel and representation costs of the entire Commission for 2012 and 2013. We challenged this in a confirmatory application (appeal), and on 19 August 2014 the Commission eventually disclosed the travel and representation costs per year per Commissioner. See here: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/commissioners_expenses_2012_and_2 Diving deeper Having
Журналист (Journalist) | 18/01/2017 English translation of the Russian article - In case you missed it, this year marks the 250th anniversary since the world’s first transparency law was adopted, in Sweden in 1766. At a quick glance, it seems we have a lot to celebrate in Europe – every country on the continent (bar Cyprus and Luxembourg which have draft laws) now has a transparency law that gives citizens the right of access to government-held information. Read more in Russian...
Date: 24 March 2017, at 09.00 am Place: Agora Building, Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
El País | 27/12/2016 Spanish - Cuando entró en vigor la Ley de Transparencia pocos preveían el alto grado de judicialización que alcanzaría. Tras dos años en vigor, se han presentado 32 recursos ante los tribunales. La gran mayoría, del propio Gobierno para evitar dar información a los ciudadanos. La Abogacía del Estado ha presentado ya, en nombre de ministerios o empresas públicas, una veintena de recursos porque no está de acuerdo con las resoluciones del Consejo de Transparencia y Buen Gobierno (CTBG) que daban la razón a ciudadanos o asociaciones. Read more...
The International Standards for Lobbying Regulation are the result of two years of collaborative work with civil society led by Transparency International, Access Info Europe, Sunlight Foundation and Open Knowledge. This initiative is unique in that it draws on the experience of a broad coalition of civil society organisations active in the field of lobbying transparency and open governance, and goes further than existing regulations and standards. The Standards aim at providing clear guidance to policymakers, governments and international organisations that are thinking of or are in the process of enacting lobbying legislation. They also serve as a reference point
Madrid, 21 December 2016 - Over 50 of the world’s leading civil society organisations, along with key experts, have called on UNESCO to share a draft access to information policy, which it is currently being discussed inside the organisation. In a letter to UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova, the civil society access to information groups stress “the cardinal importance of engaging in genuine consultations with external stakeholders as part of the process of developing a policy in this area,” to ensure that the final policy reflects the concerns of those it is designed to benefit. Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of