Debate on the Transparency law of the Principality of Asturias
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:55+01:00Date: 6 March 2017 Place: Junta General del Principado de Asturias
6
Mar 2017
3
Mar 2017
Why is the European Commission not publishing reports on Corruption in the 28 Member States?
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00Madrid, 3 March 2017 – Fourteen (14) of Europe’s leading transparency organisations today submitted a formal request for EU documents in an attempt to understand what lies behind the European Commission’s surprise decision not to publish the EU Anti-Corruption Report, which was originally scheduled for publication in 2016. The unexpected decision to permanently shelve the second edition of the EU Anti-Corruption Report, first published in 2014, was announced by Vice-President Frans Timmermans in a letter to the European Parliament in early 2017. The watchdog organisations from across the European Union have requested documents relating to the decision to withhold the
1
Mar 2017
European Parliament votes in favour of stronger EU-wide beneficial ownership transparency rules
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00Madrid, 1 March 2017 - Access Info Europe has welcomed yesterday’s vote by the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs and Civil Liberties committees to strengthen beneficial ownership transparency rules across the European Union. The amendments to the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive agreed by MEPs would mean EU citizens could access registers of beneficial owners of companies and trusts without having to demonstrate a “legitimate interest” something that will make it easier for investigative journalists and anti-corruption watchdogs to track down illegal activity, organised crime, money laundering and large-scale tax evasion. “Only full transparency of beneficial ownership registers across Europe
1
Mar 2017
Seminar: “Right to Access to Public Information: Current Challenges in the Local Public Administration”
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:55+01:00Date: 29 March 2017, at 09:30 am Place: Escola d’Administració Pública de Catalunya, Barcelona.
27
Feb 2017
Commissioners’ Expenses Campaign Update: Requesters Left in the Dark
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00Madrid, 27 February 2017 – A month after 120 people from around Europe submitted a total of 189 requests for data on the travel expenses of European Commissioners for the year 2016, the requests have not even been registered by the Commission, in flagrant breach of its legal obligation to do so, and to respond within 15 working days. In an email exchange with Access Info’s director, Helen Darbishire, the Head of the Transparency Unit at the Secretariat General, Martin Kröger, has stated in writing that “Commission does not intend to send individual communications … to the applicants” and that
20
Feb 2017
Commission data reveals lobby transparency loopholes and corporate bias
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00[Article first published by ALTER-EU.] President Juncker´s proactive transparency policy continues to fail to address loopholes in lobbying transparency rules and does not ensure balanced stakeholder consultation, according to a new analysis by the Alliance for Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU). Brussels/Madrid, 20 February 2017 - ALTER-EU criticised the loopholes in the Commission’s policy on lobby transparency after its latest research exposes that 81 per cent of lobby meetings with DG FISMA between January and July 2016 fell outside the current proactive transparency obligations. These meetings (held only with lower-level officials) are not subject to the Commission’s disclosure regime and
17
Feb 2017
OGP in Spain: More political will on participation, but legal battles for information are still underway!
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00[Article first published by the Open Government Partnership Blog] Madrid, 17 February 2017 - February has been a month in which numerous high level political figures in Spain have been found guilty and sent to jail on corruption charges, including King Felipe VI’s own brother-in-law sentenced to six years in prison (more info in English here), things are also moving forward in a positive way when it comes to developing open government, with a new political team working on the next OGP Action Plan and Madrid City Hall holding an innovative, large-scale, public consultation as part of its first OGP
17
Feb 2017
Cypriot lawmakers challenged to ensure FOI is free and exceptions are limited
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00[UPDATE: Madrid, 1 March 2017 - On 28 February, Access Info Europe sent its comments to the text of the draft FOI law, to be debated at the Cypriot Parliament Legal Committee: ] Nicosia/Madrid, 17 February 2017 – Access Info Europe this week addressed an in-person hearing in the Cypriot Parliament and called for the draft FOI law to be amended to remove fees for making requests and to reduce time limits for responses, in particular cutting down the possible 60 days extension for complex requests. Speaking to the Cypriot Parliament’s Legal Committee on Thursday 16 February 2017, Andreas Pavlou,
9
Feb 2017
Open Government Partnership Meeting (OGP)
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:55+01:00Date: 9 February 2017, at 05.00 pm Place: Ministry of Finance, Madrid.
8
Feb 2017
In-person hearing in the Cypriot Parliament
Helen Darbishire2018-11-13T09:42:56+01:00Date: 8 February 2017, at 09.30 am Place: Cyprus Parliament.