GONG | 10/03/2015 Croatian – U samo dvije od 20 analiziranih zemalja moguće je znati tko je zapravo vlasnik medija dok u 10 od 20 zemalja čak ni medijski regulatori ne znaju tko je zapravo vlasnik tiskanih medija, a u slučaju online medija ova brojka pada na šest. Stoga, Access Info Europe otvara peticiju za potpisivanje' Deset preporuka o transparentnosti vlasništva nad medijima'. Read more...
Of the 25 access to documents requests made by citizens to the European Central Bank via AsktheEU.org between September 2011 and August 2013, just eight were successful in obtaining all or some of the information requested. In three instances there was full disclosure of the documents requested. The other five requests were successful even though no documents were provided because the requested correspondence did not exist or the meetings enquired about had never taken place. Five requests concerned documents that the ECB did not hold, and requesters were generally referred to another institution which was likely to possess those documents.
Media.cat | 10/03/2015 Catalan – Una campanya europea exigeix que la legislació obligui a fer públics els propietaris i fonts de finançament dels mitjans de comunicació. Qui hi ha darrere les notícies que llegim, sentim o veiem cada dia? A quins interessos responen? Read more…
derStandard.at | 05/03/2015 German – Diese Woche präsentiert die Non-Profit-Organisation Access Info Europe eine neue Unterschriftenaktion für mehr Transparenz bei der Eigentümerschaft von Medienunternehmen. Im Vorfeld wurden dafür die Gesetzeslage und die praktische Umsetzung in zwanzig Ländern untersucht.Das Ergebnis: Zu wenig Medientransparenz - in nur neun der zwanzig untersuchten Beispiele muss die Eigentümerschaft von Medienunternehmen offengelegt werden, eine Meldung an Medienregulierungsbehörden oder Firmenregister gemacht werden. Read more…
eldiario.es | 05/03/2015 Spanish – ¿Quién está detrás de los medios de comunicación? ¿A quién pertenecen? Responder a estas preguntas no es tarea fácil. Access Info Europe, organización dedicada a promover la transparencia y el derecho a la información en la Unión Europea, lo ha intentado, pero se ha topado de frente con la opacidad que caracteriza a las grandes corporaciones mediáticas. Read more…
Madrid, 4 March 2015 - Access Info Europe has criticised the European Commission’s refusal to provide full disclosure of an evaluation document about the procurement process for a water sewage plant in Serbia, in a complaint sent today to the European Ombudsman. [1] Access Info was denied access to the names of the companies that applied for a tender contract, the names of the committee members who chose the winner of the tender, the assessments made of the companies, and the details of the procurement contract. The European Commission office in Belgrade first denied this information on the grounds of
Public participation can change the way public policies are developed, reducing capture by special interest groups, and ensuring that decisions take into account the views and needs of affected communities. Although information alone is not sufficient—additional mechanisms are necessary for receiving input from the public, reviewing it, and providing feedback on how this input was taken into consideration—meaningful participation exercises are contingent on the public having timely access to the same data as the officials making the decision. Participation cannot be effective or equal if individuals have to file requests and wait for an answer. The role of transparency in
Limiting access to information to under-16s goes against the principle of access to information as a fundamental right No one should have their right of access to information restricted due to their age according to Access Info Europe and transparency experts. This declaration follows a meeting between Access Info and authors of a draft transparency law in Catalonia, Spain, who have a provision which would restrict access to information to under-16s. Following the meeting between Catalan representatives and Victoria Anderica, Access Info Europe has published a short report that outlines the arguments against restricting access to information due to age,
The Spanish Transparency, Access to Information and Good Governance Law establishes the rules on the access to information procedures in Article 17, one of which is identifying the identity of the requester. This is not necessarily a problem, given that many access to information laws around the world also ask for such information in order to direct the response directly back to the requester, the difference and real problem in Spain is that access to information is considered an administrative procedure and therefore making requests comes under administrative procedure rules. The following mini report by Access Info outlines the reasons
Para celebrar el Día de Europa, Access Info publicó en 2013 una Guía para ayudar al ciudadano a acceder a los Documentos de la UE, animando a los miembros de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil y pública a ejercer sus derechos y presentar solicitudes de acceso a los documentos. La UE ha reconocido como derecho fundamental el acceso a los documentos de la dicha institución. Sin embargo, la ley de libertad de información de la UE – que tiene el llamativo título de 'Regulación 1049/2001' – sigue siendo poco utilizada por la mayoría de la población. La guía desmistifica