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.
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
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.
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
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.
Date: 24/03/2021 Access Info Executive Director Helen Darbishire participated in the Scottish Public Information Forum (SPIF), the event bringing together rights holders, duty bearers, government, the Scottish Information Commissioner and the public around a table twice a year to discuss, equally, the practical enjoyment of access to information rights in Scotland. Learning from each other helps improve understanding and practice across and within sectors. It is organised by Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland (CFoIS), an independent, non-party political organisation that campaigns for a robust legal right to access information so people can find out how they are governed
Madrid/Brussels, 19 March 2021– Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the Budget Control Committee will vote on Monday 22 March 2021 on whether or not Frontex was right to claim €23,700.81 from two transparency activists after they lost an access to documents case at the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Madrid, 17 March 2021– Spanish local authorities need more training (85%) and specific transparency tools (75%) in order better to fight corruption, according to a survey conducted by Access Info Europe in collaboration with the Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias (FEMP) and the Red de Entidades Locales por la Transparencia y la Participación Ciudadana.
Date: 16/03/2021
Date: 16/03/2021 Since the European Union announced, through the Next Generation Funds, the allocation of 140 billion euros for the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, Member States are making a major communication effort to ensure that the whole process is carried out under the principles of transparency and accountability. However, managing these funds in a timely manner requires certain procedural flexibilities that may lower the standards of the projects funded, leading to corruption and mismanagement. How can this situation be prevented, what control mechanisms should Spain implement, and how can they reach decentralised administrations? In order to answer these questions,