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 takenWE TACKLE THE
ABUSIVE APPLICATION
OF EXCEPTIONS...
because only in limited cases should the EU apply exceptions to access WE CHALLENGE
PRACTICAL OBSTACLES TO
ACCESS INFORMATION...
so that submitting requests is simple and straightforward for everyone
OUR LATEST UPDATES ON EU TRANSPARENCY
After five months, European Commission tells Access Info the name of a database!
Madrid, 9 May 2016 - On Europe Day, Access Info’s Executive Director Helen Darbishire was happy to open a DHL package from the European Commission with the response to a request submitted on 16 November 2015 for information about the database in which the travel and entertainment expenses of the European Commissioners are stored. We asked about the database because
Will Timmermans really shed light on lobbying in Brussels?
This article was originally published by ALTER-EU. Brussels, 18 April 2016 - Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans' launch in March of a consultation to improve the EU lobby register came seven months late. Does it herald a genuine step forward towards improved lobby transparency in Brussels? A database of organisations working to influence EU legislation, the European transparency register was designed
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
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
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
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