FacebookXInstagramYouTubeEmailLinkedIn
2 Dec 2016

Access Info challenges European Commission secrecy around EU-Turkey refugee deal legal advice before the European Court of Justice

2018-11-13T10:03:57+01:00

Madrid, 2 December 2016 – Access Info Europe is taking the European Commission to the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union to obtain its legal analysis of this year’s controversial EU-Turkey deal on return of refugees to Turkey. The 18 March 2016 deal – officially “statement” – which is having a direct impact in the lives of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers fleeing war - was much-criticized by human rights groups for being out of line with international human rights and humanitarian law. Access Info Europe submitted two access to information requests asking for

Access Info challenges European Commission secrecy around EU-Turkey refugee deal legal advice before the European Court of Justice2018-11-13T10:03:57+01:00
24 Nov 2016

Civil society calls on Spanish Government to be open about the Open Government Partnership – again!

2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00

Madrid, 24 November 2016 – A letter from seventeen (17) Spanish civil society organisations sent today to the Spanish government calls for information about progress on the third Open Government Partnership Action Plan, as well as urging the Spanish authorities to send ministerial level representatives to the OGP summit, to be held in Paris on 7-9 December 2016. The letter from members of the Coalicíon Pro Acceso[1], also signed by five (5) individual transparency experts, notes that Paris is a high level summit, and at least 32 countries, including France, Germany and the UK, will be sending heads of state

Civil society calls on Spanish Government to be open about the Open Government Partnership – again!2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00
24 Nov 2016

Europe: access to information in practice, not just on paper

2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00

[Article first published by the Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso] Long established and widely recognized, the right to access to information is severely curtailed in many European countries due to deficient implementation of existing law 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.

Europe: access to information in practice, not just on paper2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00
14 Nov 2016

Spanish Transparency Council confirms that Agendas of Cabinet meetings of the Government is public information

2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00

Madrid, 14 November 2016 – Access Info today welcomed the recent ruling by the Spanish Transparency Council that agendas of Cabinet meetings constitute information that should be available for public scrutiny in accordance with the obligations set out in Spain’s Transparency Law. The Council’s important Decision rejected the arguments of the Ministry of the Presidency, concluding that publication of the red and green index[1] in the agendas is not “internal information” and does not harm “the confidentiality of the discussions” of the Spanish Cabinet. “This very important decision gives the public the chance to know what topics will be discussed

Spanish Transparency Council confirms that Agendas of Cabinet meetings of the Government is public information2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00
10 Nov 2016

One step forward, two steps back: New Italian FOIA fails to improve adequate appeals mechanism

2018-11-13T10:03:59+01:00

Madrid, 10 November 2016 - Access Info Europe has expressed serious concern that Italy’s newly-adopted “FOIA” still falls far behind international standards after an analysis of the quality of the law ranked Italy 54th out of 111 countries. The pro-transparency organisation criticised the decree, passed in May this year, specifically because it weakens the appeals system by abandoning Italy’s Information Commission as a national oversight body. “Italy’s new FOIA forces requesters to go through the infamously-slow Italian court system in order to challenge non-disclosure of information, making it difficult to hold public officials accountable and near-impossible for citizens to participate

One step forward, two steps back: New Italian FOIA fails to improve adequate appeals mechanism2018-11-13T10:03:59+01:00
7 Oct 2016

Global Civil Society Critiques Lack of Transparency in Spain

2018-11-13T10:03:59+01:00

Madrid, 7 October 2016 – Access Info Europe, Civio, and a total of 22 civil society organisations[1] meeting in Madrid at the International Open Data Conference, have sent a letter to the Spanish government expressing serious concerns about levels of transparency in Spain. Welcoming the hosting of the IODC by the Spanish government and some recent advances, the organisations noted that there is a critical need to improve open data and open government. “We are in a country where the government, surreal as it sounds, is litigating against the Transparency Council to resist publishing documents related to the Open Government

Global Civil Society Critiques Lack of Transparency in Spain2018-11-13T10:03:59+01:00
30 Sep 2016

Formal complaint to President Juncker on Barroso, Kroes and De Gucht revolving door cases filed by ALTER-EU

2018-11-13T10:03:59+01:00

[UPDATE - 8 November 2016 - On 2 November 2016 ALTER-EU responded to the Ad Hoc Ethics Committee opinion which said Barroso’s new role at Goldman Sachs International was not a breach of the rules. Read the statement here.] [UPDATE - 13 October 2016 - On 12 October 2016 ALTER-EU handed over to to Secretary-General Alexander Italianer the 63,000 signatures gathered through the WeMove petition Barroso, don’t sell our public interest to Goldman Sachs, demanding greater ethics and transparency and to put a stop to revolving doors.] Madrid-Brussels, 30 September 2016 - The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU)

Formal complaint to President Juncker on Barroso, Kroes and De Gucht revolving door cases filed by ALTER-EU2018-11-13T10:03:59+01:00
28 Sep 2016

Statement by European RTI Community on the world’s First Official Access to Information Day!

2018-11-13T10:10:35+01:00

Madrid, 28 September 2016 - On the first officially-recognised International Right to Know Day [1], European civil society groups working on the right of access to information today raised concerns that a lack of government transparency is damaging democratic processes, thereby facilitating rising mistrust and demagogic populism in Europe. Recent monitoring by civil society organisations has demonstrated that while significant progress has been made - there are now 111 access to information laws globally and governments regularly publish key datasets on spending and services - there remain serious shortcomings with transparency of decision making which is shielding much government activity

Statement by European RTI Community on the world’s First Official Access to Information Day!2018-11-13T10:10:35+01:00
26 Sep 2016

Media Briefing: Busting the spin on lobby transparency

2018-11-13T10:03:59+01:00

Madrid, 26 September 2016 - The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) has published a recap briefing for journalists about the limitations to the current EU lobby transparency register regime, in preparation for the expected proposal on a new register following a College of Commissioners meeting on 28 September. The briefing by ALTER-EU, of which Access Info Europe is a steering committee member, addresses questions such as will the new register be "mandatory" in reality? Will the Commission get to grips with the current lobby register's problem with dodgy data? And what is the added value of bringing

Media Briefing: Busting the spin on lobby transparency2018-11-13T10:03:59+01:00
14 Sep 2016

European Commission Withdraws Automated August Holiday Delay Message

2018-11-13T10:04:00+01:00

Madrid, 14 September 2016 - Access Info Europe has welcomed the decision by the European Commission not to repeat August's automatic "out-of-office" style message warning requesters that there might be delays in processing their requests due to the summer holidays. This decision came after Access Info's Executive Director Helen Darbishire sent a letter to the Commission on 1 September 2016 expressing concerns about the automatic response, which read "Due to the holiday period in August, some delays may occur in the treatment of your access-to-documents request." In a rapid reply sent on 7 September 2016, the head of the EU's

European Commission Withdraws Automated August Holiday Delay Message2018-11-13T10:04:00+01:00
Original content developed by Access Info Europe and is made public under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike licence.