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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
8 Feb 2018

Secrecy over international relations trumps transparency of EU-Turkey deal

2018-11-13T10:03:05+01:00

Madrid, 8 February 2018 - The General Court of the European Union has ruled that the public does not have the right to access the European Commission’s legal advice on the March 2016 EU-Turkey agreement on returning migrants and asylum seekers from Greece to Turkey. The Commission had applied a series of exceptions to documents requested by Access Info Europe, documents that the court process revealed included late night emails between high level public officials discussing legal and political aspects of the controversial deal. The judgments shed further light on the scope and application by the EU Commission of the

Secrecy over international relations trumps transparency of EU-Turkey deal2018-11-13T10:03:05+01:00
2 Feb 2018

European Commission formalises commitment to public travel expenses

2018-11-13T10:03:05+01:00

Madrid, 2 February 2018 - The European Commission has formalised its commitment, first pledged in September 2017, to make public the travel expenses of the Commissioners: on 31 January 2018 the new Code of Conduct for the Members of the European Commission was published and it confirms that mission expenses will be published every two months. This commitment in the new Code of Conduct comes exactly one year since, on 27 January 2017, Access Info launched a public campaign calling for publication of the Commissioners’ travel expenses. The campaign attracted media coverage, over both the lack of transparency and –

European Commission formalises commitment to public travel expenses2018-11-13T10:03:05+01:00
3 Jan 2018

Access Info calls for greater transparency of Council of the EU in submission to European Ombudsman

2018-11-13T10:03:05+01:00

Madrid, 3 January 2018 – Access Info has recommended that the Council of the European Union significantly increase transparency of the legislative process, in particular by providing the public with details on the positions that EU Member States take in negotiations on legislation. These recommendations were submitted to the European Ombudsman’s consultation held as part of her enquiry into transparency of the Council, which is based in large part on the case of Council v. Access Info Europe, won by Access Info on 17 October 2013, in which the Court of Justice of the EU established the right of the

Access Info calls for greater transparency of Council of the EU in submission to European Ombudsman2018-11-13T10:03:05+01:00
20 Dec 2017

European Ombudsman Decision: Commission should stop requiring requesters to provide postal addresses

2018-11-13T09:38:35+01:00

Madrid, 20 December 2017 – In response to a complaint by Access Info Europe, the European Ombudsman has concluded that the European Commission’s practice of verifying the identity of persons making requests for access to documents by asking for their postal addresses is “disrespectful of citizens and their fundamental rights under the EU Charter” and constitutes "maladministration". The Ombudsman's formal Decision dismisses the Commission's arguments that its April 2014 postal addresses policy is necessary to prevent “abuse of the right to public access” as well as to ensure “legal certainty” in delivering answers, arguments that the Ombudsman says she "considers

European Ombudsman Decision: Commission should stop requiring requesters to provide postal addresses2018-11-13T09:38:35+01:00
11 Dec 2017

For the first time in Spanish democratic history minutes of Cabinet meetings public, thanks to an information request

2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00

Madrid, 11 December 2017 - Access Info Europe has today published on its website the minutes of Spain’s weekly Cabinet meetings for the years 1996 to 2017, making them available to the public for the first time in Spanish democratic history. The minutes, which contain the decisions reached in each weekly meeting, were obtained using information requests by Access Info as part of collaborative research with journalist Jesús Escudero, and have been published to mark the third anniversary of the entry into force of Spain’s Transparency Law on 10 December 2014. “This is a huge step forward for Spanish democracy,”

For the first time in Spanish democratic history minutes of Cabinet meetings public, thanks to an information request2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00
30 Nov 2017

Disclosed documents reveal that EU training of Libyan Coast Guard makes negligible reference to human rights protection

2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00

Madrid, 30 November 2017 – Respect and protection of human rights are a negligible part of the EU’s training to the Libyan Coast Guard, as revealed by the training materials the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) disclosed in response to an access to documents request. From a total of 20 documents – including a video – released, only 0,5% of the content is dedicated to ensuring the protection of human rights. Instead, the presentations and handouts mainly address possible indications of human trafficking, interrogation, and documentation techniques, as well as the handling of weather apps. This comes in

Disclosed documents reveal that EU training of Libyan Coast Guard makes negligible reference to human rights protection2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00
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