Date: 15/07/2021 The global pandemic has been used as an excuse for many Balkan states to not fully implement freedom of information laws, leaving the public in the dark. Transparency has been another victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. While on paper, freedom of information laws are up-to-date in almost all countries in the region, implementation is patchy at best and has grown worse since governments clamped down on the flow of information with the onset of the coronavirus. Together with journalists, public officers and the Open Government Partnership, Access Info participated in this event led by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network

Date: 24/06/2021 Public procurement (around 13% of the EU’s annual GDP) is a powerful tool for achieving social impact and is key to countries’ performance, especially amid crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, procurement is used to ensure access to life-saving medicines and to expand opportunities for small and medium businesses devastated by lockdowns. How can governments better leverage procurement as a public service to maximise social impact? How can open approaches to procurement, through open data and accessible digital tools, help us achieve better social impact, including more competition, inclusion and sustainability? In the session "Rule of Law,

Date: 04/06/2021 Experts from free expression and civil society communities discussed how UNCAC Member States should implement commitments to enhance civic space, protect civil society organisations and journalists working on anti-corruption initiatives, and improving public access to information and transparency. The panel examined public access to information as an enabler for corruption prevention and enforcement and how important it is for journalists and civil society organisations be able to effectively operate and therefore improve implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the SDGs. The panel discussion further highlighted that supporting anti-corruption work and those who initiate it

Date: 24/05/2021 On 30 May 2021, Regulation 1049/01 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, will celebrate its 20th birthday. As happens in all life cycles, the surrounding environment has changed considerably in the intervening years, some might even say radically. The political, legal and digital context is a very different one twenty years after the Regulation was conceived, negotiated and saw the light of day. This is a timely moment to look back with a number of key players at the time the Regulation was adopted about the particular political (European Parliament and Council) constellations that

Date: 18/05/2021 Access Info Europe Executive Director, Helen Darbishire,  took part in the webinar "A global call to action to transform the way governments serve their citizens", adressing the institutional framework for Open Government in Spain and the attitudes of the Spanish local and central governments in the framework of Open Government Partnership. The event, which was organised by the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in the frame of the Open Government Week 2021, discussed  the 3rd National Action Plan Open Government Partnership in Germany as well the Open Government as a platform for innovation.

Date: 14/05/2021 Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe, participated in the panel "Opportunities for the implementation of the Tromsø Convention", as part of the Forum "Right to Аccess of Public Information. 10 years of Freedom and Challenges", which was organised by the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law. She was joined by: Tetyana Oleksiyuk, Council of Europe Consultant; Taras Shevchenko, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine; David Goldberg, Expert on Freedom of Information, Scotland; Gergana Jouleva, Executive Director on Access to Information Programme, Bulgaria; Igor Rozkladai, Deputy Director, chief expert on media law at Centre