ZEIT ONLINE | 08/06/2022 German - In einer weltweiten Transparenz-Rangliste liegt Österreich auf dem letzten Platz. Mathias Huter, Obmann des Forums für Informationsfreiheit in Wien, erklärt die Gründe und schlägt vor, was sich ändern muss. Read more...
Madrid, 13 June 2022 – We are urging civil society organisations, journalists and citizens across Europe to participate in the European Commission’s consultation on whether or not company registers should be open. The consultation is open until Tuesday 21 June 2022 (midnight Brussels time). What is this about? The consultation is on the Open Data Directive, adopted in 2019, which promised to open up company and company ownership data, including the names of the legal and beneficial owners. This information is currently available to all who have the means to pay for the data, with costs ranging up to €11
Madrid, 1 June 2022 – Under the EU’s Open Data Directive, company registration and ownership information should be available as open data. In a surprise move, the European Commission is now proposing, via a long-overdue Implementing Regulation, that the names of the owners of companies will not be made available for free. As a result, SMEs, businesses, academia, journalists and CSOs will not get access to information that is vital in due diligence, innovation and preventing corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. Join leading transparency and open data activists in a public briefing to discuss next steps and how to
Madrid, 18 May 2022 – Access Info welcomes the news that two more Spanish regions – Asturias and Valencia - have joined Open Government Partnership’s local programme, making Spain the European country with the largest number of sub-national members, at six in total.[1] Access Info is calling on these regional governments to institute strong and inclusive multi-stakeholder forums, something which three of the Spain’s other OGP local members - Aragon, the Basque Country, and Catalonia – have, but the City of Madrid does not. “As a late-comer to the field of transparency, only adopting an access to information law in
Madrid, 17 May 2022 – 10 partner organisations from 10 EU countries invite 30 young people to a one-week experience in Luxembourg on the topic of active citizenship. The EU Democracy Rally gives you the chance to experience a variety of activities, games and tools to sharpen your skills in active citizenship: public speaking and negotiations, storytelling, video journalism, (digital) well-being, language animation, access to information, campaigning, and more. Who can apply? Those aged 18 to 30 years old who are citizens or residents of one of the 10 eligible countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Spain,
Radiotelevisión del Principado de Asturias | 27/04/2022 Spanish - El Consejo de Transparencia del Principado sigue sin construirse tres años después de la entrada en vigor de la ley autonómica. Los grupos no han encontrado un candidato de consenso y los expertos consultado en TPA Noticias instan a los diputados a llegar a un acuerdo. Read more...
30 March 2022 – Access Info has successfully defended the right of access to information in Malta, winning a court ruling from Malta’s Information and Data Protection Appeals Tribunal that all EU citizens have a right to submit information requests. The case arose from an August 2019 request for data on migration to Malta submitted by an Italian citizen working at Access Info’s Madrid office. The request was refused by Malta’s Ministry of Home Affairs and National Security on the grounds that she was not a Maltese resident. Malta’s 2008 Freedom of Information Act says that requesters must be both
Madrid, 11 March 2022 – On 10 March 2022, following the scandal about the Commission refusing access to President Ursula von der Leyen’s text messages, the European Parliament held a plenary session to discuss application of the EU’s access to documents rules, known as Regulation 1049/2001. Yet, the Commission President, much like her text message conversation with the CEO of Pfizer, was nowhere to be found. Rachel Hanna, Legal Researcher at Access Info reports. The Commission’s decision to refuse an access to documents request regarding text messages exchanged between President Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer on
Global Data Barometer | 04/10/2021 English - Access Info Europe is the regional partner for the Global Data Barometer (GDB) in Europe coordinating 27 countries across Europe, the Americas, Oceania and Asia. Access Info Europe is a human rights organisation established in Madrid in 2006, dedicated to promoting and protecting the right of access to information. Access Info runs a range of projects designed to leverage the right to information in order to increase participation and accountability, to defend human rights, and to advance democracy. Read more...
9 March 2022 - As the Russian onslaught on Ukraine continues, 127 leading transparency, anti-corruption, journalist and open data organisations today issued a statement calling on European Union Institutions and Member States to act urgently to open company and beneficial ownership registers so as to facilitate tracking the hidden wealth of Russian oligarchs and to ensure effective sanctions. The EU and its allies have rallied to support Ukraine, but without a robust system of transparent company and beneficial ownership data, detecting hidden Russian wealth is difficult, given that many use family members and networks of shell companies to conceal their