Euronews | 28/06/2017 English - Campaigners want to know why Brussels bureaucrats are refusing to release a report on fighting corruption. EU chiefs had promised to report every two years on how well countries in the bloc were battling graft. But, after its first report in 2014, there has been nothing. Read more...
Madrid, 20 June 2017 - Access Info Europe and 53 requesters from across Europe appealed to the European Ombudsman about the European Commissions’ failure to register, process, and respond to requests for the 2016 travel expenses of EU Commissioners submitted five months ago, in January 2017. The joint complaint highlights the Commission’s four major violations of the EU transparency rules: (1) the failure to even register 152 of the requests; (2) the failure to process 188 of the requests; (3) failing to respond to 51 appeals; (4) for outright refusals to process requests for President Juncker, the Vice President Timmermans,
[UPDATE: Madrid, 11 December 2017 - On 25 April, the Cyptriot Government answered the letter sent by Access Info raising questions regarding to Cyprus Access to Information Law. You can find a copy of the letters here : ] Madrid, 15 June 2017 - Access Info Europe and six Cypriot civil society organisations [1] have raised concerns with the Cyprus government that the future draft access to information law would violate European standards if adopted in its current form. In particular, they warned the exceptions to transparency are seriously out of line with the Council of Europe Convention on Access
Areena | 14/06/2017 Finnish - Onko päätöksenteko EU:ssa avointa ja onko EU kehittymässä avoimempaan vai salailevampaan suuntaan. Ja mitä siitä käytännössä voi seurata, kun EU:n asetusta on noudatettava, vaikka esim. Suomen perustuslaki ovat ristiriidassa keskenään. Read more...
[Article first published on eldiario.es (in Spanish)] Helen Darbishire, Executive Director Madrid, 13 June 2017 - If the person reading this article had to place a bet, which information would you say it’s easier to access: the salaries of advisers to the ministers or the documents that guide Spanish Cabinet discussions at its traditionally secretive weekly Friday meetings? What’s certain is that talking about transparency in Spain is like buying a lottery ticket: the lack of a government transparency policy makes obtaining information feel more playing roulette than exercising a fundamental right. In fact, Access Info managed to
El País | 13/06/2017 Spanish - A veces, la Ley de Transparencia parece estar en manos de Mortadelo y Filemón. Un particular, o una entidad como Access Info Europe, pide información a un organismo público sobre cuestiones relativamente inocentes como los gastos del festival de Eurovisión o las políticas de Gobierno Abierto. Read more...
Madrid, 7 June 2017 – In baffling reluctance to be transparent about its own open government policies, the Spanish Government has appealed to the High Court against last month’s lower court ruling that it should provide Access Info Europe with progress reports on commitments under the Open Government Partnership (OGP). “It’s amazing that the Government is fighting so hard to keep secret information about what it’s doing to advance open government,” stated Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe. The documents on what each Ministry is doing under the OGP Action Plan were first requested by Access Info Europe
El Confidencial | 31/05/2017 Spanish - El Partido Popular, PSOE y Ciudadanos no hacen un alarde de transparencia en Europa. Ocultan el destino de los fondos que otorga la Eurocámara para que gasten en España, principalmente en el alquiler de oficinas y su mantenimiento, para que esa institución tan lejana a la ciudadanía resulte más cercana. Los 31 eurodiputados de esos tres partidos manejan 1,6 millones de euros por ese concepto, mientras que el gasto total de los 54 parlamentarios españoles asciende a 2,8 millones al año. Read more...
Date: 30/05/2017 Place: Barcelona Activa’s Auditorium, Barcelona.
Date: 24/05/2017 at 12.30 pm Place: Ministry of Economy, Madrid.