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One year later: what we (still don’t) know about the EU-Turkey agreement and accountability

2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

Madrid, 18 March 2017 - As I sat at the Access Info Europe offices on the 1st of March reading the latest Order of the General Court of the European Union, I could not help but shake my head every other minute in disbelief. In a case brought by an Afghan refugee threatened with expulsion from Greece against the European Council, the Court had just proclaimed that the EU-Turkey agreement is not a measure adopted by the European Council or any EU institution for that matter, but rather by the EU Member States. Luisa Izuzquiza,Communications Officer   If

One year later: what we (still don’t) know about the EU-Turkey agreement and accountability2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

Parliament inaction on lobby transparency could sink register reform

2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

[Article first published by the ALTER-EU] Madrid/Brussels, 17 March 2017 - The European Parliament must do more to improve lobby transparency, 100 civil society organisations urged in an open letter published today. MEPs were warned that the European Commission's current proposal for a revised EU Transparency Register would allow for even less scrutiny than the existing one, and that to champion greater transparency across all EU institutions, they must start with their own house first. A few weeks before Commission, Parliament and Council are expected to start negotiating a revision of the joint EU Transparency Register, the Alliance for Lobby

Parliament inaction on lobby transparency could sink register reform2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

The risks of transparency in times of rising populism

2018-11-13T09:45:35+01:00

Freedominfo.org | 16/03/2017 Inglés - It’s not often that your own colleagues working on democracy issues actually question the wisdom of pressing for greater transparency, but this has happened to me a few times lately. Most recently, I’ve been asked about the wisdom of pursuing Access Info’s high profile campaign to get the European Commission to publish the travel expenses of EU Commissioners. Leer más...

The risks of transparency in times of rising populism2018-11-13T09:45:35+01:00

Enquiry about legislative transparency in the Council welcomed by Access Info

2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

Madrid, 14 March 2017 – Access Info Europe today expressed concern over insufficient record keeping in the Council of the EU and welcomed the launch of the European Ombudsman’s strategic enquiry into transparency of one of the EU’s key decision making institutions. A focus of the Ombudsman’s enquiry is whether the Council is complying with a 2013 judgment of the European Court of Justice,[1] a case won by Access Info Europe in which the Court ruled that the public should have access to the positions of Member States in order to permit participation in legislative processes. “Ongoing holes in Council

Enquiry about legislative transparency in the Council welcomed by Access Info2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

El Gobierno gasta 25 millones de euros en asesores a dedo para los ministros

2018-11-13T09:45:35+01:00

El País | 14/03/2017 Español - El primer Gobierno de Mariano Rajoy gastó al menos 25,6 millones de euros en contratar asesores eventuales para sus ministerios. Esa fue la cantidad que destinó entre 2012 y 2015 a pagar los sueldos de trabajadores que no pasan por ningún proceso selectivo para ocupar puestos retribuidos con más de 60.000 euros brutos de media al año. Entre 2012 y 2015, el gasto en asesoría creció un 16,7%. Leer más...

El Gobierno gasta 25 millones de euros en asesores a dedo para los ministros2018-11-13T09:45:35+01:00

The risks of transparency in times of rising populism

2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

[Article first published by the UNCAC Coalition Blog] Helen Darbishire, Executive Director Madrid, 10 March 2017 - It’s not often that your own colleagues working on democracy issues actually question the wisdom of pressing for greater transparency, but this has happened to me a few times lately. Most recently, I’ve been asked about the wisdom of pursuing Access Info’s high profile campaign to get the European Commission to publish the travel expenses of EU Commissioners. The fear seems to be that this very peculiar time in European history – with sensitive elections in France and the Netherlands, with

The risks of transparency in times of rising populism2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

Commissioners’ Expenses Campaign Update: EU continues to refuse to recognise requests

2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00

Madrid, 10 March 2017 – Access Info Europe today condemned the European Commission’s refusal to process 189 requests for data on EU Commissioner’s travel expenses submitted by 120 people in January 2017. In a formal complaint sent today, Access Info alleges a serious violation of the access to documents rights of these 120 individuals by lumping all 189 requests together and then claiming that the time needed to answer would be unreasonable for one request – a total of 75.5 working days according to the Commission. The complaint rejects the “fair solution” offered by the Secretariat General of the Commission,

Commissioners’ Expenses Campaign Update: EU continues to refuse to recognise requests2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00

EU ‘breaking own laws’ by keeping documents secret

2018-11-13T09:45:35+01:00

Euobserver | 10/03/2017 Inglés - The Council of the EU, where national governments meet, acted against EU law when they laid down guidelines for handling internal documents, the Dutch parliamentary attorney said in a report this week. The report said that the principal rule that all internal Council documents should be marked LIMITE “is incompatible with European transparency law”. Leer más...

EU ‘breaking own laws’ by keeping documents secret2018-11-13T09:45:35+01:00

Why is the European Commission not publishing reports on Corruption in the 28 Member States?

2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00

Madrid, 3 March 2017 – Fourteen (14) of Europe’s leading transparency organisations today submitted a formal request for EU documents in an attempt to understand what lies behind the European Commission’s surprise decision not to publish the EU Anti-Corruption Report, which was originally scheduled for publication in 2016. The unexpected decision to permanently shelve the second edition of the EU Anti-Corruption Report, first published in 2014, was announced by Vice-President Frans Timmermans in a letter to the European Parliament in early 2017. The watchdog organisations from across the European Union have requested documents relating to the decision to withhold the

Why is the European Commission not publishing reports on Corruption in the 28 Member States?2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00
Original content developed by Access Info Europe and is made public under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike licence.