Series of Webinars with the candidates shortlisted for the OGP Steering Committee
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:10:50+01:00Date: 1st April 2016 at 10 a.m. Place: Online (Webex platform)
Big business enjoys ‘significant access’ to Irish officials in Brussels
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:10:51+01:00Irish Examiner | 29/03/2016 English - Big businesses have significant access to Brussels-based officials of the Irish Government to promote their corporate agenda, according to transparency campaigners. Read more...
Business access to Irish EU officials queried
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:10:51+01:00Irish Examiner | 28/03/2016 English - Big businesses have significant access to Brussels-based officials of the Irish Government to promote their corporate agenda, according to transparency campaigners. Read more....
Transparency groups target lobbying weak spot
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:10:51+01:00Politico | 23/03/2016 English - Transparency groups took aim Tuesday at what they say is a weak spot in the EU’s lobbying disclosure rules: the Brussels-based delegations of the bloc’s member countries. Read more...
Member state offices in Brussels wide open to corporate lobbyists
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:04:12+01:00Brussels/Madrid, 22 March 2016 – Corporate lobbyists enjoy widespread access to member state representations by exploiting loopholes in EU transparency rules according to the first ever study on lobbying activities at national government offices in Brussels.[1] The study, ‘National representations in Brussels: open for corporate lobbyists’ by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU), reveals how these government missions to EU institutions are a target for big business lobbyists looking to promote their agendas. Vicky Cann, Corporate Europe Observatory, said:“This report demonstrates that there is a worrying level of corporate lobbying directed at the EU's permanent representations. These
El Gobierno de Rajoy se resiste a dar datos sobre las reuniones con lobbies de la representación en Bruselas
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:10:52+01:00Público | 21/03/2016 Spanish - Un estudio de ALTER-EU al que ‘Público’ ha accedido en primicia documenta cómo la mayoría de representaciones permanentes de los 28 en la capital belga aseguran no llevar un registro de sus reuniones con lobistas corporativos, ni les exigen que estén acreditados como tales ante la UE antes de encontrarse con ellos. Read more...
Access Info calls for immediate end to the EU’s secretive law-making process
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:04:12+01:00Madrid, 21 March 2016 - Access Info Europe has urged the European Ombudsman to recommend that the European Union immediately end its current practice of negotiating future legislation in secretive “trilogue” talks between the Council, Commission and Parliament. In a submission to the Ombudsman’s Public Consultation, Access Info cited the arguments of the EU’s own Advocate General in the case that led to Access Info’s 2013 victory against the Council before the European Court of Justice: ‘Legislating’ is, by definition, a law-making activity that in a democratic society can only occur through the use of a procedure that is
We Have the Right to Know: Is the EU-Turkey Deal Legal? So We’re Asking.
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:04:12+01:00Madrid, 18 March 2016 – As EU leaders meet in Brussels to finalise details of last week’s controversial deal on sending refugees back from Greece to Turkey, Access Info Europe is launching an access to information campaign digging into the legality of the agreement, and asking EU institutions whether they sought legal advice on or properly evaluated the human rights impacts of the deal. The three initial access to documents requests, sent to the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, and the European Parliament, also ask for legal advice-related documents in regards to the pre-existing 2014 Agreement between
MEPs urged to take stand to defend future of EU Transparency
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:04:12+01:00Madrid, 17 March 2016 – As the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) gears up for a crucial debate on recommendations on the future of EU integrity, transparency, and accountability, Access Info Europe has called on MEPs to support proposals in favour of strengthening EU transparency mechanisms, including by giving the Ombudsman powers to review classified documents and inspect the premises of public bodies. At the same time, Access Info cautioned that some of the amendments put forward by MEPs in the AFCO Committee, such retaining a limited definition of access to documents (rather than all information), are out of
Industria oculta información sobre su reglamento de autoconsumo
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:10:52+01:00Público | 17/03/2016 Spanish - El Ministerio de Industria se niega a informar sobre los asistentes y las actas de las reuniones que dieron forma e hicieron que se aprobase el controvertido reglamento de autoconsumo –criticado tanto por consumidores como por asociaciones defensoras de las energías limpias–, así como de los documentos remitidos por las terceras partes, del listado de las reuniones internas y con terceras partes, y de la fecha de celebración de dichas reuniones. Read more...