Blog – Page 3 – Access Info Europe

No Biodiversity: Europe’s Missing Climate Action Data

Helen Darbishire2022-12-14T16:43:26+01:00

Madrid, 8 December 2022 – As the UN Biodiversity Conference opens in Montreal, Canada, Access Info has raised concerns about the shortage of biodiversity data with the Global Data Barometer findings being only 43% for biodiversity data in European countries, and only 27% globally. Our research found that no biodiversity data is published online in six (6) European countries, namely Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. The Global Data Barometer also found a score for Emissions data of 61% in Europe against just 32% globally, with worrying little data on Vulnerabilities to climate change at a low 28%

No Biodiversity: Europe’s Missing Climate Action DataHelen Darbishire2022-12-14T16:43:26+01:00

Not all Expression is Lobbying

Helen Darbishire2023-01-11T12:13:43+01:00

Submission to OECD Consultation on Lobbying and Influence Madrid, 6 December 2022 – In its analysis of the draft OECD Recommendation on the regulation of lobbying and influence, Access Info has warned of the risk of some governments using the proposed provisions to limit media freedom and freedom of expression in the name of regulating “influence” and ensuring that public officials are “shielded from undue influence”. In the full version of its submission to the consultation on the OECD Recommendation on Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying and Influence (hereinafter “Draft Recommendation) [1], Access Info highlights concerns about the broad

Not all Expression is LobbyingHelen Darbishire2023-01-11T12:13:43+01:00

Lack of data to fight corruption and climate change! Find out how EU countries perform in the Global Data Barometer

Helen Darbishire2022-12-20T11:27:52+01:00

Join us on 16 December 2022 at 14:00h CET on Zoom for the launch of the European region results of the first Global Data Barometer (GDB). We will be discussing how Europe is the strongest region globally on data for public good, but still only has a middling score of 51% overall. The report reveals which data exists and which is missing in areas such as anti-corruption, company & beneficial ownership information, climate action, and health and covid. For 21 European countries, we will be discussing what we can learn from the highest scoring country Estonia with 67% and the

Lack of data to fight corruption and climate change! Find out how EU countries perform in the Global Data BarometerHelen Darbishire2022-12-20T11:27:52+01:00

Global Civil Society Organisations Concerned About European Court Ruling on Beneficial Ownership Transparency

Helen Darbishire2022-11-30T15:11:57+01:00

As European Union and African Union representatives meet in Brussels on Monday 28 November 2022 to review progress following the EU-AU Summit in February, 34 African and European civil society organisations have raised concerns about threats to ground-breaking EU transparency measures, which could undermine all that has been put in place to prevent and combat the problem of illicit financial flows out of Africa. The 34 organisations state: “Illicit financial flows rob African nations of almost US$89 billion each year. Anonymous companies are often used as the get-away vehicles of the corrupt, helping syphon these funds out of Africa

Global Civil Society Organisations Concerned About European Court Ruling on Beneficial Ownership TransparencyHelen Darbishire2022-11-30T15:11:57+01:00

EU Court of Justice decision to “invalidate” transparency in beneficial ownership is a blow to the right to know

Helen Darbishire2022-11-28T10:13:19+01:00

European Federation of Journalists | 25/11/2022 English - In a landmark decision on 22 November 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the EU anti-money laundering directive’s provisions on access to beneficial ownership registers are “invalid”. The court found that the directive (AMLD5, 2018) interferes with the privacy and personal data protection rights of beneficial owners and should therefore not be made available to a wide public. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) denounced a decision restricting the freedom of information in favour of business interests. Read more...

EU Court of Justice decision to “invalidate” transparency in beneficial ownership is a blow to the right to knowHelen Darbishire2022-11-28T10:13:19+01:00

Open Beneficial Ownership Register Rules Declared Invalid by EU’s Highest Court

Helen Darbishire2022-11-25T11:07:47+01:00

Madrid, 23 November 2022 – The Court of Justice of the European Union on 22 November 2022 declared invalid the provision of the Fifth European Union Anti-Money Laundering Directive that requires EU countries to provide public access to beneficial ownership registers. In a ruling that has sent shockwaves through Europe’s anti-corruption and transparency community, the Court found that the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5, 2018) is too loosely framed and provides for overly-wide public access to the registers without a proper justification of the necessity and proportionality of the interference with the rights to privacy and personal data protection of

Open Beneficial Ownership Register Rules Declared Invalid by EU’s Highest CourtHelen Darbishire2022-11-25T11:07:47+01:00

Un appello a sostegno di Roberto Saviano nel processo per diffamazione della Presidente Meloni

Helen Darbishire2022-11-17T10:35:04+01:00

LIBERA INFORMAZIONE | 16/11/2022 Italian - I partner della coalizione CASE, con il sostegno del gruppo italiano e del Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), esprimono la propria solidarietà a Roberto Saviano riguardo al procedimento penale per diffamazione aggravata avviato nei suoi confronti dall’attuale Presidente del Consiglio Giorgia Meloni. Read more...

Un appello a sostegno di Roberto Saviano nel processo per diffamazione della Presidente MeloniHelen Darbishire2022-11-17T10:35:04+01:00

Don’t miss the opportunity! UNESCO free, online course on Access to Information is still up and running

Helen Darbishire2022-11-10T09:59:36+01:00

Madrid, 10 November 2022 – UNESCO and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) recently launched a massive open online course (MOOC) about the right of access to information with the aim to offer people worldwide the opportunity to learn about this fundamental right. The course is free for everyone, it takes just six hours to complete, and provides official certification from UNESCO upon completion. This course is an excellent opportunity for public officials, journalists, civil society, students, and all those who have an appetite to increase or reinforce their knowledge on the right of access to information (ATI). Thaís

Don’t miss the opportunity! UNESCO free, online course on Access to Information is still up and runningHelen Darbishire2022-11-10T09:59:36+01:00

Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation Joins Battle For MPs’ Expenses To Be Disclosed To European Court Of Human Rights

Helen Darbishire2022-11-08T13:07:23+01:00

Lovin Malta | 04/11/2022 English - The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and 11 other “access to information” organisations from across Europe have submitted a brief to the European Court of Human Rights in a case against France demonstrating that information about expenses by members of parliament (MPs) falls under the scope of access to information laws and should be disclosed. Read more...

Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation Joins Battle For MPs’ Expenses To Be Disclosed To European Court Of Human RightsHelen Darbishire2022-11-08T13:07:23+01:00

MPs’ expenses should be disclosed in response to information requests: Civil Society Brief to the European Court of Human Rights

Helen Darbishire2022-11-04T15:28:24+01:00

Photo: The French Assememblée Nationale in Paris, and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Strasbourg, 3 November 2022 - Access Info, ARTICLE 19, and ten access to information organisations from across Europe have submitted a brief to the European Court of Human Rights in a case against France demonstrating that information about expenses by members of parliament (MPs) falls under the scope of access to information laws and should be disclosed. Gathering comparative law and practice from across Europe, the third-party intervention – also known as an “amicus curiae” or friend of the court brief – was

MPs’ expenses should be disclosed in response to information requests: Civil Society Brief to the European Court of Human RightsHelen Darbishire2022-11-04T15:28:24+01:00