EU Transparency2021-08-30T11:39:16+02:00

ADVOCATING FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY IN THE EU

WE SHINE A LIGHT ON EU INSTITUTIONS AND DECISION MAKING

WE PROMOTE TRANSPARENCY IN EU DECISION MAKING...

since citizens have the right to know about how decisions are taken
Transparency in EU decision making is essential to ensuring citizens can hold public officials to account and increase citizen participation. We also campaign for stronger rules for lobbying transparency, the opening up of trilogues, as well as better record keeping by all EU institutions.

WE TACKLE THE
ABUSIVE APPLICATION
OF EXCEPTIONS...

because only in limited cases should the EU apply exceptions to access
By using the EU transparency rules (Regulation 1049/2001) we challenge the decisions of EU institutions that limit access to documents, and take further appeals and complaints to the European Ombudsman or Courts.

WE CHALLENGE
PRACTICAL OBSTACLES TO
ACCESS INFORMATION...

so that submitting requests is simple and straightforward for everyone
We challenge the obstacles put in place by EU institutions via appeals and evidence-based advocacy – whether it be for example, to end the obligation to provide a postal address or personal identification to register requests or simply to be able to use email!

OUR LATEST UPDATES ON EU TRANSPARENCY

22Mar 2016

Member state offices in Brussels wide open to corporate lobbyists

Brussels/Madrid, 22 March 2016 – Corporate lobbyists enjoy widespread access to member state representations by exploiting loopholes in EU transparency rules according to the first ever study on lobbying activities at national government offices in Brussels.[1] The study, ‘National representations in Brussels: open for corporate lobbyists’ by the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU), reveals how these government

21Mar 2016

Access Info calls for immediate end to the EU’s secretive law-making process

Madrid, 21 March 2016 - Access Info Europe has urged the European Ombudsman to recommend that the European Union immediately end its current practice of negotiating future legislation in secretive “trilogue” talks between the Council, Commission and Parliament. In a submission to the Ombudsman’s Public Consultation, Access Info cited the arguments of the EU’s own Advocate General in the case

18Mar 2016

We Have the Right to Know: Is the EU-Turkey Deal Legal? So We’re Asking.

Madrid, 18 March 2016 – As EU leaders meet in Brussels to finalise details of last week’s controversial deal on sending refugees back from Greece to Turkey, Access Info Europe is launching an access to information campaign digging into the legality of the agreement, and asking EU institutions whether they sought legal advice on or properly evaluated the human rights

17Mar 2016

MEPs urged to take stand to defend future of EU Transparency

Madrid, 17 March 2016 – As the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO) gears up for a crucial debate on recommendations on the future of EU integrity, transparency, and accountability, Access Info Europe has called on MEPs to support proposals in favour of strengthening EU transparency mechanisms, including by giving the Ombudsman powers to review classified documents and inspect the

22Jan 2016

Access Info sets out transparency priorities for EU with Green/EFA Group

Madrid, 22 January 2016 – Access Info Europe has outlined key actions that will help to increase transparency of EU decision-making and lobbying, in its submission as part of a consultation on civil society priority areas held by the Green/EFA Group. The pro-transparency organisation called upon the Greens to push EU institutions towards the proactive publication of information such as

17Dec 2015

Civil society expose holes in EU lobby transparency rules

This post was originally published by ALTER-EU. Madrid/Brussels, 17 December 2015 - Research by ALTER-EU member groups Corporate Europe Observatory, Access Info Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe shows that well over 90 per cent of meetings between DG FISMA (the Commission's department for financial regulation) officials not covered by transparency rules and lobbyists are with the corporate sector.