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20 Dec 2017

European Ombudsman Decision: Commission should stop requiring requesters to provide postal addresses

2018-11-13T09:38:35+01:00

Madrid, 20 December 2017 – In response to a complaint by Access Info Europe, the European Ombudsman has concluded that the European Commission’s practice of verifying the identity of persons making requests for access to documents by asking for their postal addresses is “disrespectful of citizens and their fundamental rights under the EU Charter” and constitutes "maladministration". The Ombudsman's formal Decision dismisses the Commission's arguments that its April 2014 postal addresses policy is necessary to prevent “abuse of the right to public access” as well as to ensure “legal certainty” in delivering answers, arguments that the Ombudsman says she "considers

European Ombudsman Decision: Commission should stop requiring requesters to provide postal addresses2018-11-13T09:38:35+01:00
20 Nov 2017

Secrecy surrounding selection of EU Judges challenged in complaint to European Ombudsman

2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00

Madrid/Brussels, 20 November 2017 - Access Info Europe, represented by the EU Public Interest Clinic and The Good Lobby, has submitted a new complaint to the European Ombudsman about the refusal of the Council of the EU to disclose the opinions on the candidates’ suitability to become members of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). For each judicial appointment to the CJEU, a special panel – comprising seven former members of the CJEU, members of national supreme courts and lawyers of recognised competence, one of whom is proposed by the European Parliament – issues an opinion regarding

Secrecy surrounding selection of EU Judges challenged in complaint to European Ombudsman2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00
17 Oct 2017

Review process tackling MEPs allowances avoids public scrutiny

2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00

Madrid, 17 October 2017 - Access Info Europe has criticised the European Parliament’s refusal to disclose information in full relating to the revision of Member of the European Parliament’s General Expenditure Allowance (GEA), following an access to EU documents request. The Parliament Bureau’s ‘Ad hoc Working Group on the GEA’ denied access to a note containing the background, advice, and proposals for the rules, and a list of questions to be discussed, fearing that disclosure of the information would make it unable to reach a decision on the review of MEP allowances. “The refusal to recognise the overriding public interest

Review process tackling MEPs allowances avoids public scrutiny2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00
5 Oct 2017

Transparency is core feature of new Council of Europe Guidelines on participation

2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00

Madrid, 5 October 2017 – Access Info Europe has welcomed the inclusion of core access to information principles in the Council of Europe’s Guidelines on public participation in decision making. The Guidelines, published last week on the eve of Right to Know Day (27 September 2017), include two of the pro-transparency organisation’s recommendations submitted during the 2016 public consultation: the need for timely provision of information and the narrow application of possible exceptions to access. “With the adoption of these guidelines, members of the Council of Europe must push to bridge the gap between citizens and decision makers, by enabling

Transparency is core feature of new Council of Europe Guidelines on participation2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00
29 Sep 2017

Decision-Making Transparency in Europe identified as top priority on International Right to Know Day

2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00

Brussels, 29 September 2017 – Members of the European Parliament together with CSOs, academics, and journalists from across the EU have called for greater openness of decision making and full transparency of spending of public funds in the final declaration of an International Right to Know Day event held on 28 September 2017. The closing statement of the expert, high-level event, organised by the European Parliament’s cross-party Transparency and Anti-Corruption Intergroup (ITCO) along with Access Info Europe and Anticor Belgium, also called for full respect for the right of access to information, and urged all EU Member States to align

Decision-Making Transparency in Europe identified as top priority on International Right to Know Day2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00
14 Sep 2017

EU Commissioners’ travel expenses to be published proactively every two months

2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00

Madrid, 14 September 2017 - Access Info today cautiously welcomed draft changes to the Code of Conduct for EU Commissioners announced yesterday by the EU, which will require the proactive publication of travel expenses every two months. The pro-transparency organisation, which, with the support of 120 citizens from across Europe, has been campaigning for access to the Commissioners’ travel expenses, noted that the draft text of the Code contains nothing on the precise data to be made public. Access Info has called for more specificities. “The devil is in the detail. A truly transparent system will provide citizens with enough

EU Commissioners’ travel expenses to be published proactively every two months2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00
1 Sep 2017

EU President Juncker plans to publish Commission travel expenses – Access Info calls for full and detailed transparency

2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00

Madrid, 1 September 2017 - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is planning to publish the travel expenses of the EU’s 28 Commissioners according to reports today by Le Soir newspaper and Politico.eu. This move comes in the wake of a campaign by Access Info and 120 requesters from across Europe, which generated intense media coverage earlier in August. Reports suggest that publication of the data will only happen once per year and will be designed to give the public a “picture” of the travel costs. Access Info is calling for more frequent publication, noting that once every month should be

EU President Juncker plans to publish Commission travel expenses – Access Info calls for full and detailed transparency2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00
14 Aug 2017

Fact-checking the European Commission’s press conference on the Commissioners’ expenses

2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00

Madrid, 14 August 2017 - On 9 August, European Commission spokesperson Mina Andreeva faced a barrage of questions from journalists about the European Commissioners’ travel expenses, after two months of detailed data was disclosed following a three-year campaign by Access Info Europe. Access Info has fact-checked some of Andreeva’s key statements. 1. “We do publish mission expenses whenever we are asked to provide information.” The European Commission has been hugely resistant to publishing this information. After a long campaign by Access Info and 120 requesters from around Europe who submitted, in total, over 200 requests, we have managed to obtain

Fact-checking the European Commission’s press conference on the Commissioners’ expenses2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00
28 Jul 2017

Ombudsman asked to investigate refusal to publish legal advice on the legal basis for EU lobby register

2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00

Madrid/Brussels, 28 July 2017 – With upcoming negotiations on reforming the state of EU lobbying transparency imminent, the legal advice given to the Commission and Council on the legal basis for lobby reform is back under the spotlight following appeals this week to the EU Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly. Access Info Europe's and MEP Dennis de Jong's parallel complaints to the EU watchdog challenge the refusals by the two institutions to make transparent their legal advice on whether or not it’s possible under the EU Treaties to set up a mandatory EU lobby register with sanctions. “Civil society and MEPs are

Ombudsman asked to investigate refusal to publish legal advice on the legal basis for EU lobby register2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00
27 Jul 2017

Transparency of Commissioners’ travel expenses “disproportionate” says European Commission

2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00

Madrid, 27 July 2017 – Access Info has described as extremely regrettable that six months after 120 European citizens requested access to last year’s travel expenses of the 28 EU Commissioners, the Commission has taken a unilateral decision to disclose data just for January and February 2016, and that it will not contemplate any greater transparency. Furthermore, in response to our letter to Vice President Timmermans proposing that this data be published proactively, the Commission has concluded that it “does not see added value in publishing online the detailed travel expenses” as the cost of processing the data “would be

Transparency of Commissioners’ travel expenses “disproportionate” says European Commission2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00
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