ACCESSING COMPANY REGISTERS
USING THE RIGHT TO KNOW
ONLY 1 OUT OF 32 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ALLOWS FREE, PUBLIC
ACCESS TO ITS ENTIRE COMPANY REGISTER
European governments, by putting these obstacles to accessing company register data, are complicit in blocking investigative journalists in their work uncovering criminal activities, money laundering, and tax evasion.
Experts’ views
Why is it important for the public to have full, free access to company registers?
Users perspective on access to company registers:
The Findings
The map below summarises the results of the request process, which took almost two years to complete.
To find out more about what happened in each country, click on the map or use the country-by-country list below:
Map Key
In red…Refused access to info
In orange…Process still ongoing
In green…Gave full access to info
In blue…Administrative silence
OPEN COMPANY REGISTERS LATEST NEWS
Pandora Papers: How long before we have open company registers?
Helen Darbishire, Director of Access Info Europe, reflects on what the Pandora Papers tell us about anti-corruption and integrity instruments in Europe, and calls on the European Commission to move urgently on opening up company registers. Helen is a member of the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership, and is Chair of the UNCAC Coalition, a global civil society
European Commission urged to make procurement transparent to protect pandemic recovery and green spending
Brussels, 29 June 2021 – Leading transparency organisations from across Europe today alerted the European Commission to a series of weaknesses in national public procurement systems, and recommended specific measures urgently needed to protect pandemic recovery funds and green deal spending from corruption.
OGP governments urged to open company registers
Madrid, 10 June 2021- Speaking at the Ministerial Level meeting of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee, Helen Darbishire of Access Info, in her role as a civil society member of the Steering Committee, stressed the need to act on the transparency agenda that the pandemic has indicated should be a top priority.
Renewed call for Open Company Registers: a Response to OpenLux
15 February 2021– As the OpenLux scandal unfolds, leading transparency, anti-corruption and open data organisations today reiterated their call to the European Commission and national governments to open company registers with high quality data in order to prevent the corruption, fraud, tax evasion and organised crime that has once again come to light thanks to the work of investigative journalists.
Access Info Europe reiterates call for Open Company Registers
As the OpenLux scandal unfolds, Access Info Europe today reiterated its call to the European Commission and national governments to open company registers fully as open data in order to fight corruption, tax evasion, and organised crime.
NGOs urge the European Parliament to end secrecy in how fishing rules are enforced
Brussels, 14 January 2021 - 72 civil society organisations from the EU and across the globe have called on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to end secrecy around how fishing activities are controlled and sanctioned in a crucial vote to be taken in the Fisheries Committee on 26 January 2021. In a letter sent to all MEPs, the signatories