NATIONAL TRANSPARENCY CAMPAIGNS
PROMOTING AND DEFENDING TRANSPARENCY
THROUGHOUT EUROPE
Ireland: Campaign to block FOI fee increases successful, but unacceptable €15 up-front fee remains
Madrid/Halifax, 15 November 2013 - Intense campaigning by Irish and international civil society organisations has resulted in an important policy reversal by the Irish government. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, has withdrawn, for now at least, an amendment to the Freedom of Information Bill 2013 which threatened to charge multiple up-front fees for requests deemed to
Fees for FOI Requests Breach European Rules on Access to Information
Madrid/Dublin, 12 November 2013 – The specialist freedom of information NGO Access Info Europe today expressed serious concern at attempts to maintain and even increase fees for FOI requests in Ireland and noted this is not permitted by European and international standards. Access Info Europe noted that the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents expressly prohibits charges
Civil society groups warn UK Lobbying Bill is too weak on transparency
Civil society groups warn UK Lobbying Bill is too weak on transparency London, 9 September 2013 – Access Info Europe, together with 14 other civil society groups from the UK, is urging the British Government to redraft the proposed Lobbying Bill so that it provides the public with a genuine opportunity to scrutinise the activities of lobbyists. The letter sent
Poland: Access to information implementation by public bodies results
Madrid/Warsaw, 30 June 2014 – Access Info Europe participated in a conference, working with Polish NGO Cities on the Internet, to present the final assessment of levels of implementation of The Access to Public Information Act 2001 by public bodies at the central and regional level. The project, led by Cities on the Internet, aimed to promote a more effective
Access Info asks for a deeper reform on transparency in France
Madrid, 15 July 2013 – France has recently been embroiled in multiple scandals that have revealed a number of situations of conflicts of interest within the public institutions. In order to restore citizens’ trust in their representatives, the French government has made the issue of transparency a high priority on the political agenda. On 24 April, the Ayrault government proposed
Constitutional Provisions for Access to Information
What is a constitution? A constitution is the basic law of a given country. It lays out the formal structure of the state, defining the central governments powers and institutions. Moreover, it specifies the relationship between the central government and other levels. Additionally, the constitution establishes the rights of citizens and thereby creates limits on the government. How many of
Cover photo: Michael Levine-Clark via Flick (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)