Workshop on Lobby Transparency
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:53+01:00Date: 10/05/2017 Place: European Parliament, Brussels.
EU Urged to Adopt Comprehensive Transparency Agenda
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:20+01:00Madrid/Brussels, 9 May 2017 – On Europe Day, Access Info is calling on the European Union to commit to and implement essential transparency and open government reforms to reverse the growing sense among European citizens that they are distanced from Brussels and that decisions are taken behind closed doors with little or no accountability. Access Info’s mapping, carried out with our partners, reveals that it is not possible for citizens to get information on decisions such as that to drop EU anti-corruption reports or who really negotiated the controversial EU-Turkey deal. Other transparency blackspots relate to areas of public interest,
Court Victory: Spanish Government must be open about Open Government Partnership activities!
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:20+01:00Madrid, 4 May 2017 – In an important victory for advancing government transparency in Spain, the Madrid High Court has ruled that the Spanish Government should provide Access Info Europe with a series of documents related to its participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP). In a particularly interesting decision in Spain’s still young and evolving jurisprudence on the right of access to information – the Transparency Law came into force in December 2014 – the Court found that for civil society to participate in decision making on open government policies, having full access to relevant information is essential. “We
Necesitamos una Ley de transparencia fuerte
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:53+01:00Eldiario.es | 24/04/2017 Spanish - La sociedad civil, trabajando mano a mano con periodistas, ha logrado arrojar luz sobre cómo nuestros representantes toman las decisiones públicas que afectan a los derechos de las personas, quién interviene en las mismas y cómo se gastan nuestro dinero. Read more...
Pushing for beneficial ownership transparency in Europe
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:20+01:00[Article first published by the UNCAC Coalition Blog] Andreas Pavlou, RTI Campaigner and Researcher Madrid, 11 April 2017 - Earlier this year, the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs and Civil Liberties committees voted to strengthen beneficial ownership transparency rules across the European Union as part of the current revision to the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The proposed changes, if adopted in plenary, would mean EU citizens could access registers of beneficial owners of companies and trusts without having to demonstrate a “legitimate interest”, as is currently the case. This is something that will make it
11th International Journalism Festival
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:53+01:00Date: 08/04/2017 Place: Perugia, Italy
Unidos Podemos pide más de 200 comparecencias en cinco días para abordar los Presupuestos
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:53+01:00Infolibre | 06/04/2017 Spanish - Unidos Podemos-En Comú-En Marea ha registrado este jueves en el Congreso la solicitud de más de 200 comparecencias entre sindicatos, organizaciones profesionales, asociaciones y catedráticos para explicar el proyecto de Presupuestos Generales del Estado 2017 entre el 24 y el 28 de abril, según ha informado Europa Press. Read more...
OGP Meeting in Spain
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:54+01:00Date: 07/04/2017 Place: Spanish Treasury Building, Madrid
How two Spanish journalists got major scoops from just one information request!
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:20+01:00Madrid/Perugia, 4 April 2017 - In March leading Spanish newspapers El País and El Confidencial published exclusive stories revealing never-before-seen information that exposed remarkable micro-management by the Spanish Cabinet (“Consejo de Ministros”) of decisions such as overspending on public procurement contracts and the granting or revocation of nationality. These stories – including a full page in the weekend edition of El País as well as a series of stories in the digital El Confidencial – were made possible thanks to a single access to information request by Alba Gutierrez of Access Info Europe. By exploiting a loophole in the Spanish
Civil society warn Cyprus’ draft transparency law under threat if excessive exceptions persist
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:21+01:00» This article is also available in Greek, here. Madrid, 31 March 2017 – Access Info Europe and 30 international and Cypriot civil society organisations have today urged the government of Cyprus to guarantee that exceptions to access in its draft transparency law meet international standards. The letter urges the Cypriot Justice Minister in charge of the law, Ionas Nicolaou, to reverse the unacceptable inclusion of five absolute exceptions [1] as well as ensure that information may only be refused if its disclosure would or would be likely to harm a protected interest, unless there is an overriding public interest