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About Helen Darbishire

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So far Helen Darbishire has created 1914 blog entries.
23 Mar 2018

The General Court of the European Union rules in favour of greater openness of the EU legislative process

2018-11-13T10:03:04+01:00

Madrid, 23 March 2018 – Access Info has welcomed the 22 March 2018 judgment of the General Court of the European Union in the case of De Capitani v Parliament, a ruling in favour of legislative transparency. The Court found that the European Parliament was wrong when, in 2016, it denied Emilio De Capitani, a former senior official at the Parliament, access to documents produced in the EU’s secretive, informal, “trilogue” negotiations between the Council, Commission, and Parliament. The General Court emphasised that “openness strengthens democracy by allowing scrutiny of the legislative process” and that “the possibility for citizens to

The General Court of the European Union rules in favour of greater openness of the EU legislative process2018-11-13T10:03:04+01:00
13 Mar 2018

European Parliament urged to support protections for right of access to information in wake of killing of Slovak journalist

2020-01-29T11:30:29+01:00

Madrid, 13 March 2018 – In light of the shocking news that Jan Kuciak was likely killed as a result of his work as an investigative journalist and whose freedom of information requests may have been passed to the subject of his inquiry, a total of 61 civil society organizations today wrote to the European Parliament calling for stronger safeguards for those who exercise the right of access to information. The statement and the list of signatories can be found here Please contact Access Info to add your organisation The statement, sent to all 751 Members of the European Parliament

European Parliament urged to support protections for right of access to information in wake of killing of Slovak journalist2020-01-29T11:30:29+01:00
13 Mar 2018

Letter to European Parliament with Statement on killing of Jan Kuciak

2018-11-13T09:38:35+01:00

Madrid/Brussels, 13 March 2018 Dear Member of the European Parliament In advance of tomorrow's parliamentary debate on the killing of Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak, please find below a statement signed by 61 civil society organisations from across Europe and elsewhere expressing their concern about the fact that his investigation may have been exposed after he submitted request for information, and calling on the European Union to take action to help protect journalists and all those who exercise their fundamental right of access to information. More details can be found in this story by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting

Letter to European Parliament with Statement on killing of Jan Kuciak2018-11-13T09:38:35+01:00
2 Mar 2018

European Commission starts publishing travel expenses proactively

2019-11-04T17:11:42+01:00

Madrid, 2 March 2018 – Access Info Europe has welcomed today the start of proactive publication of EU Commissioners travel expenses as a positive step towards greater transparency and accountability of spending of public funds. Proactive publication of this information had been a crucial demand of Access Info, which has led a campaign for greater transparency of travel expenses since 2014. Finally, in September 2017 the European Commission had announced changes to Commissioners’ code of conduct that would require publication of these expenses every two months. Since Wednesday (28 February 2018), the information is publicly available online, although it’s not

European Commission starts publishing travel expenses proactively2019-11-04T17:11:42+01:00
22 Feb 2018

Negociaciones México-UE: una cláusula democrática “confidencial”

2018-11-13T09:41:09+01:00

Proceso | 22/02/2018 Spanish- Contrasta el tratamiento diferenciado que en Europa se le ha dado a las rondas de renegociaciones comerciales y políticas del acuerdo global entre México y la Unión Europea (UE). Mientras las comerciales fueron más o menos conocidas por el público y la prensa, las políticas, dentro de las cuales se discutió la importante cláusula democrática, destacaron por su hermetismo. Read more...

Negociaciones México-UE: una cláusula democrática “confidencial”2018-11-13T09:41:09+01:00
13 Feb 2018

Greater transparency of Council legislative process, fundamental for representative democracy, says European Ombudsman

2018-11-13T10:03:04+01:00

Madrid, 13 February 2018 – Access Info today welcomed the European Ombudsman recommendation that the Council of the European Union increase transparency of its legislative process in order to guarantee citizens’ right to hold their elected representatives to account and to participate in the democratic life of the EU. Two main findings of the Ombudsman’s inquiry into transparency of the Council, to which Access Info submitted a series of proposals in December 2017, are that the Council’s systematic failure to record the names of Member States along with their positions on legislative matters constitutes maladministration, and that there is over-classification

Greater transparency of Council legislative process, fundamental for representative democracy, says European Ombudsman2018-11-13T10:03:04+01:00
8 Feb 2018

Secrecy over international relations trumps transparency of EU-Turkey deal

2018-11-13T10:03:05+01:00

Madrid, 8 February 2018 - The General Court of the European Union has ruled that the public does not have the right to access the European Commission’s legal advice on the March 2016 EU-Turkey agreement on returning migrants and asylum seekers from Greece to Turkey. The Commission had applied a series of exceptions to documents requested by Access Info Europe, documents that the court process revealed included late night emails between high level public officials discussing legal and political aspects of the controversial deal. The judgments shed further light on the scope and application by the EU Commission of the

Secrecy over international relations trumps transparency of EU-Turkey deal2018-11-13T10:03:05+01:00
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