Blog

Accountability in Complex Democracies

2021-05-17T12:14:07+02:00

Date: 13/05/2021 Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info, participated in the seminar Accountability in complex democracies: the role and relevance of the accountability of the Prime Minister to Spanish society, organised by the Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies (CEPC). This seminar kicks off a series of discussion events on specific aspects of accountability, with the aim of obtaining from them rigorous and useful information to improve the accountability of the Spanish government as much as possible. She was joined by the following speakers: Francisco Martin Aguirre. Director of the Department of Planning and Monitoring of Government Activity. Presidency

Accountability in Complex Democracies2021-05-17T12:14:07+02:00

Stop the harassment of human rights activists in Russia

2021-05-11T17:33:18+02:00

Madrid, 11 May 2021 – Access Info Europe and 97 civil society organisations and individuals today expressed concern about the Russian authorities' persecution and harassment of Ivan Pavlov, freedom of information advocate and lawyer defending opposition leader Aleksei Navalny's Anticorruption Foundation.

Stop the harassment of human rights activists in Russia2021-05-11T17:33:18+02:00

VIII Congress on the Advancement of Open Government

2021-05-13T12:08:55+02:00

Date: 20 and 27 April and 4 May 2021 The VIII Congress on the Advancement of Open Government and the VI Congress on Good Governance and Transparency of the Valencian Region were held under the title Multilevel Asymmetries of Transparency and the Right of Access. The Executive Director of Access Info Europe, Helen Darbishire, participated in the closing of this event organised by Lorenzo Cotino, Andrés Boix and Jorge Castellanos, professors of the Department of Constitutional Law, Political Science and Administration of the University of Valencia. The Transparency Observatory, a research project of the University of Seville, also contributed to

VIII Congress on the Advancement of Open Government2021-05-13T12:08:55+02:00

Connecting financial integrity and open government agendas in Europe

2021-05-03T12:03:43+02:00

Date: 28/04/2021 Connecting financial integrity and open government agendas in Europe, FACTI Panel briefing for European governments and civil society organisations Co-hosted with Access Info Europe In Europe and beyond, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) offers a platform through which governments and civil society actors are co-creating political commitments on a broad range of areas including the fight against corruption, tax fairness and asset recovery for development. Synergies between OGP and the FACTI Panel’s work may bring impulse to financial integrity and the financing of the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore,the Panel would like to present its recommendations to European governments

Connecting financial integrity and open government agendas in Europe2021-05-03T12:03:43+02:00

Open Government, public innovation and citizen participation

2021-04-28T10:47:35+02:00

Date: 27/04/2021 Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe, participated on 27 April in the panel "Democratic Challenges of Open Government, Public Innovation and Citizen Collaboration", as part of the conference organised by the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP) of Spain: "Open Government, Public Innovation and Citizen Collaboration". She was joined by officials from the Central Government and other Spanish public administrations, as well as members of the academia and from civil society organisations at national and international level. During the meetings, the following topics were discussed: New democratic challenges posed in the new political and administrative context; Measurement

Open Government, public innovation and citizen participation2021-04-28T10:47:35+02:00

EU General Court reduces the legal costs claimed by Frontex against transparency activists

2021-04-19T17:00:47+02:00

Madrid, 19 April 2021 – Access Info Europe today gave a cautious welcome to the ruling of the General Court of the European Union that Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, had overcharged when it issued a legal bill of €23,700 to two transparency activists after they lost a court case, and that this amount should be reduced to €10,520.

EU General Court reduces the legal costs claimed by Frontex against transparency activists2021-04-19T17:00:47+02:00

III National Summit on Open Government and Transparency

2021-04-19T13:43:16+02:00

Date: 15/04/2021 One year after the unprecedented global crisis resulting from the Covid19 pandemic, we are witnessing a change in the perception that governments, citizens, research groups and academia have of the fundamental importance of the human right to health. In line with this trend, the III National Summit on Open Government and Transparency, organised by INAI, proposes an overview to analyse the links between health, access to information, accountability, transparency, innovation and citizen participation. Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info, participated in this event under a with a presentation entitled: "What if we had achieved open government before

III National Summit on Open Government and Transparency2021-04-19T13:43:16+02:00

Access Info and the Daphne Foundation kick-off the first event of the FOI Youth Project

2021-04-01T15:12:18+02:00

Madrid and Valletta, 1 April 2021– Access Info Europe and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation are pleased to announce the launch of the Freedom of Information Youth Project, which will raise awareness among young people of the benefits of exercising the fundamental right of access to information for combatting disinformation and protecting democracy.

Access Info and the Daphne Foundation kick-off the first event of the FOI Youth Project2021-04-01T15:12:18+02:00

Transparency to Fight Corruption in Post-Pandemic Development

2021-04-14T11:47:54+02:00

Date: 25/03/2021 The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed inadequate transparency frameworks, allowing for public funds to be diverted and stolen. In this context, the UNCAC Coalition and Access Info Europe hosted a Knowledge Partner session at the virtual 2021 OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum  under the title "Transparency to Fight Corruption in Post-Pandemic Development". The online event featured the participation of: Alfredo Durante Mangoni, Chair G20 ACWG, Coordinator for Anti-Corruption at the Italian Foreign Ministry Anamarija Musa, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb and from 2013-2018 Croatian Information Commissioner Antonio Baquero Iglesias, European Editor for the Organized Crime and

Transparency to Fight Corruption in Post-Pandemic Development2021-04-14T11:47:54+02:00

ACT! Project: 5 solutions for local governments to prevent and fight corruption

2021-08-30T12:03:36+02:00

Madrid, 24 March 2021– Access Info together with its partners in the pan-European project ACT! have presented a range of technical solutions for local governments to increase their levels of transparency and prevent any risk of corruption, covering the following areas: whistleblowing, access to information, open data in public procurement, transparency of meetings involving public officials and risk analysis.

ACT! Project: 5 solutions for local governments to prevent and fight corruption2021-08-30T12:03:36+02:00