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25 May 2019

2019 European Elections: an evaluation of the political manifestos

2019-05-31T12:06:24+02:00

A few hours away from the European Elections, Access Info invites for European citizens to elect their next representatives.  Because well informed voting is crucial for our future, we evaluated the electoral programs of five countries in which the representation is high, for their transparency in European Union activities. Among these countries are: France, Germany, Italy, Spain (only available in Spanish), and the United Kingdom. The methodology used is as follows: Thematic Choice: A number of transparency-related topics have been evaluated. Transparency of decision making within the EU institutions and in the processes are two of them. Legislative initiative, transparency

2019 European Elections: an evaluation of the political manifestos2019-05-31T12:06:24+02:00
30 Apr 2019

Electoral program evaluations in collaboration with Poletika

2020-02-14T11:13:06+01:00

Madrid, 24 April 2019 - For several years, as a member of the Poletika platform, Access Info Europe has evaluated the transparency commitments in the election manifestos of Spain’s political parties. These evaluations are published on Poletika’s webpage as part of the section on Democratic Quality (in Spanish: Calidad Democrática). In line with our commitment to transparency, we are publishing the methodology by which we made these evaluations. The evaluation is divided into five sub categories of equal importance, each assessed on a 2-point rating system for a total of 10 possible points. Recognition of access to information as a

Electoral program evaluations in collaboration with Poletika2020-02-14T11:13:06+01:00
17 Apr 2019

Spain: Access Info calls on Government to use Regulation to strengthen the Transparency Law

2020-02-14T11:13:28+01:00

Madrid, 5 April 2019 – In its comments submitted to the public consultation on the draft Regulation for Spain’s 2013 Transparency Law, Access Info has urged the government to take the opportunity to strengthen the right of access to information, with measures such as simplifying the request procedures. Specifically, Access Info has recommended that the new Regulation permit requests by email in place of the current complicated process whereby only persons with a an electronic ID or digital certificate and make requests via the Transparency Portal. “It is especially worrying that in Spain so few requests are made because of

Spain: Access Info calls on Government to use Regulation to strengthen the Transparency Law2020-02-14T11:13:28+01:00
17 Apr 2019

Access Info Europe helps create the CONSUL Democracy Foundation

2020-01-29T10:40:21+01:00

22 March 2019 – Access Info Europe, together with civil society partners from across Europe, meeting today in Amsterdam, created a new foundation to promote citizen engagement in decision making using the CONSUL participation platform. The CONSUL Democracy Foundation will promote citizen participation worldwide and will oversee the use and development of the largest open source digital democracy platform – CONSUL, a citizen participation tool currently in use by over 100 institutions in 35 countries. CONSUL is an open source platform, whose development was started by Madrid City Council in 2015 and has since been taken up and expanded by municipalities

Access Info Europe helps create the CONSUL Democracy Foundation2020-01-29T10:40:21+01:00
15 Apr 2019

Access Info once again urges Spain to recognise access to information as a fundamental right

2019-04-17T10:53:20+02:00

Madrid, 12 April 2019 – When Spain elects a new government on 28 April 2019, one of its pending tasks is to ensure that the weak transparency law is reformed to meet international standards, and to recognise a fundamental right in line with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. To this end, Access Info has proposed that in its next Open Government Partnership Action Plan, Spain commits to recognise the right to information, with measures such as removing identification requirements for requesters and ensuring that the law applies to all branches of power not just the executive

Access Info once again urges Spain to recognise access to information as a fundamental right2019-04-17T10:53:20+02:00
12 Apr 2019

Spain: Right to request information limited to citizens with valid ID, email, and a mobile phone

2020-07-07T12:27:01+02:00

Madrid, 12 April 2019: The Spanish government has announced a new system for identifying people who want to submit a request for information under the 2013 transparency law: you need to give your name, your official Spanish-issued ID number, your email, and your mobile phone number. Access Info Europe, the Madrid-based right to information organisation, today criticised this system as it discriminates against any requester who is not a citizen or resident of Spain or who does not have a mobile phone. “The right to information is a fundamental human right so everyone should be able to exercise it, irrespective

Spain: Right to request information limited to citizens with valid ID, email, and a mobile phone2020-07-07T12:27:01+02:00
28 Jun 2018

Montenegro: Analysis of 2017 amendments finds that they seriously undermine the Law on Free Access to Information

2020-01-29T11:14:13+01:00

Access Info and MANS call for a working group on reform of the law, possibly as part of Montenegro’s re-established OGP process Madrid/Podgorica, 28 June 2018: Access Info Europe and MANS today called on the Montenegrin government to undo its 2017 amendments to Law on Free Access to Information (originally adopted in 2006) in order to bring it back into line with international standards. In an analysis of the Law also launched today, Access Info and MANS signalled that a particular concern is Article 1, newly added in 2017, which contains a series of class exclusions such

Montenegro: Analysis of 2017 amendments finds that they seriously undermine the Law on Free Access to Information2020-01-29T11:14:13+01:00
23 Mar 2018

The General Court of the European Union rules in favour of greater openness of the EU legislative process

2018-11-13T10:03:04+01:00

Madrid, 23 March 2018 – Access Info has welcomed the 22 March 2018 judgment of the General Court of the European Union in the case of De Capitani v Parliament, a ruling in favour of legislative transparency. The Court found that the European Parliament was wrong when, in 2016, it denied Emilio De Capitani, a former senior official at the Parliament, access to documents produced in the EU’s secretive, informal, “trilogue” negotiations between the Council, Commission, and Parliament. The General Court emphasised that “openness strengthens democracy by allowing scrutiny of the legislative process” and that “the possibility for citizens to

The General Court of the European Union rules in favour of greater openness of the EU legislative process2018-11-13T10:03:04+01:00
2 Mar 2018

European Commission starts publishing travel expenses proactively

2019-11-04T17:11:42+01:00

Madrid, 2 March 2018 – Access Info Europe has welcomed today the start of proactive publication of EU Commissioners travel expenses as a positive step towards greater transparency and accountability of spending of public funds. Proactive publication of this information had been a crucial demand of Access Info, which has led a campaign for greater transparency of travel expenses since 2014. Finally, in September 2017 the European Commission had announced changes to Commissioners’ code of conduct that would require publication of these expenses every two months. Since Wednesday (28 February 2018), the information is publicly available online, although it’s not

European Commission starts publishing travel expenses proactively2019-11-04T17:11:42+01:00
13 Feb 2018

Greater transparency of Council legislative process, fundamental for representative democracy, says European Ombudsman

2018-11-13T10:03:04+01:00

Madrid, 13 February 2018 – Access Info today welcomed the European Ombudsman recommendation that the Council of the European Union increase transparency of its legislative process in order to guarantee citizens’ right to hold their elected representatives to account and to participate in the democratic life of the EU. Two main findings of the Ombudsman’s inquiry into transparency of the Council, to which Access Info submitted a series of proposals in December 2017, are that the Council’s systematic failure to record the names of Member States along with their positions on legislative matters constitutes maladministration, and that there is over-classification

Greater transparency of Council legislative process, fundamental for representative democracy, says European Ombudsman2018-11-13T10:03:04+01:00
Original content developed by Access Info Europe and is made public under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike licence.