EURACTIV | 19/08/2022 English - A group of 21 NGOs have voiced their concern about the potential transparency and media freedom implications of a new secrecy law introduced by the Spanish government following the Pegasus scandal. Read more...
EL PAÍS | 12/08/2022 Spanish - Más de una veintena de asociaciones de archiveros y bibliotecarios de toda España —incluida la Federación Española de Sociedades de Archivística, Biblioteconomía, Documentación y Museística (Fesabid)— han presentado alegaciones a la Ley de Información Clasificada, que sustituye a la Ley de Secretos Oficiales del franquismo, todavía vigente, en las que piden, entre otros cambios, que no se pueda clasificar información sobre vulneraciones de los derechos humanos para ocultarlas al conocimiento público y que se sancione a quien lo haga. Read more...
Photo: El País Update, 26 August 2022: 24 organisations have signed this statement, as well as three individual experts. Madrid, 13 August 2022 – Access Info is one of 15 civil society organisations which today condemned in the strongest terms an incredibly short, mid-August, public consultation on a Spain’s new secrecy law, proposed to replace the 1968 Franco-era law still in force. The new draft law was made public by the Spanish government on 3 August 2022 with a deadline of 12 August for public comments, right in the heart of the holiday period when very few academics, legal experts,
EXPANSIÓN política | 30/06/2022 Spanish - Desde la necesidad de empoderar a las mujeres a través del acceso a la información, pasando por el reto de regular la inteligencia artificial y la necesidad de disminuir la brecha digital, fueron algunas de las discusiones relevantes en las mesas de trabajo que diversas representantes de los cinco continentes llevaron a la décimo tercera edición de la Conferencia Internacional de Comisionados de Información (ICIC). Read more...
Madrid, 1 July 2022 – This week Access Info submitted an appeal to the Spanish Transparency Council after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused access to any documents at all about Spain’s signature and ratification of the Tromsø Convention, arguing that disclosure might damage international relations. This refusal is perplexing given that ratification of the Tromsø Convention is a flagship commitment under Spain’s IV Open Government Partnership Action Plan, and the signature ceremony in Strasbourg on 23 November 2021 was a very public event covered in Spanish media. The appeal submitted yesterday comes after a tortuous process of a series
news.ORF.at | 30/06/2022 German - Rund um den Ankauf von Impfstoffen des Herstellers Pfizer durch die EU-Kommission gibt es immer noch ungeklärte Fragen. Im Zentrum stehen Textnachrichten von Kommissionspräsidentin Ursula von der Leyen mit Pfizer-Chef Albert Bourla. Ein Antrag auf Herausgabe der Chats wurde von der Kommission abgelehnt, nun legte die Behörde nach Kritik der EU-Ombudsfrau Emily O’Reilly nach. Read more...
POLITICO | 30/06/2022 English - In the spring of 2021, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in a pickle. AstraZeneca, a leading manufacturer of COVID-19 vaccines, was not delivering the quantities promised, and the Commission was under heavy fire for failing to make their advance purchase agreements legally airtight, so as to prevent the company from prioritizing other countries — chiefly the United Kingdom. So, in a bid to secure a new vaccine supply, von der Leyen took to a tool of essential importance at the highest level of politics — her smartphone. Read more...
130,000-strong petition backs European Ombudsman ruling for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to adhere to EU transparency rules around vaccine negotiations. Brussels, 29 June 2022 – The European Commission today doubled-down on its refusal to release text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla, relating to negotiations of the purchase of covid vaccines in spite of calls to do so from over 130,000 citizens and the European Ombudsman. This Wednesday, rejecting the opinion by the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, who said that the text messages are subject to EU transparency rules, the European Commission is arguing instead that text
Madrid, 23 June 2022 - 182 organisations, journalists, academics, and individuals have signed a petition calling on the European Commission to ensure company ownership transparency in the EU. The petition comes as a response to the Commission’s draft Implementing Regulation for the Open Data Directive, which proposes the publication of only basic company information and company documents, without the names of company legal owners, legal representatives, and beneficial owners. The broad range of organisations and individuals adhering to this petition indicate the importance of open company registers: without company ownership information, CSOs and journalists would not have access to the
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...