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3 Mar 2017

Why is the European Commission not publishing reports on Corruption in the 28 Member States?

2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00

Madrid, 3 March 2017 – Fourteen (14) of Europe’s leading transparency organisations today submitted a formal request for EU documents in an attempt to understand what lies behind the European Commission’s surprise decision not to publish the EU Anti-Corruption Report, which was originally scheduled for publication in 2016. The unexpected decision to permanently shelve the second edition of the EU Anti-Corruption Report, first published in 2014, was announced by Vice-President Frans Timmermans in a letter to the European Parliament in early 2017. The watchdog organisations from across the European Union have requested documents relating to the decision to withhold the

Why is the European Commission not publishing reports on Corruption in the 28 Member States?2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00
1 Mar 2017

European Parliament votes in favour of stronger EU-wide beneficial ownership transparency rules

2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00

Madrid, 1 March 2017 - Access Info Europe has welcomed yesterday’s vote by the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs and Civil Liberties committees to strengthen beneficial ownership transparency rules across the European Union. The amendments to the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive agreed by MEPs would mean EU citizens could access registers of beneficial owners of companies and trusts without having to demonstrate a “legitimate interest” something that will make it easier for investigative journalists and anti-corruption watchdogs to track down illegal activity, organised crime, money laundering and large-scale tax evasion. “Only full transparency of beneficial ownership registers across Europe

European Parliament votes in favour of stronger EU-wide beneficial ownership transparency rules2018-11-13T10:03:41+01:00
27 Feb 2017

Commissioners’ Expenses Campaign Update: Requesters Left in the Dark

2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00

Madrid, 27 February 2017 – A month after 120 people from around Europe submitted a total of 189 requests for data on the travel expenses of European Commissioners for the year 2016, the requests have not even been registered by the Commission, in flagrant breach of its legal obligation to do so, and to respond within 15 working days. In an email exchange with Access Info’s director, Helen Darbishire, the Head of the Transparency Unit at the Secretariat General, Martin Kröger, has stated in writing that “Commission does not intend to send individual communications … to the applicants” and that

Commissioners’ Expenses Campaign Update: Requesters Left in the Dark2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00
20 Feb 2017

Commission data reveals lobby transparency loopholes and corporate bias

2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00

[Article first published by ALTER-EU.] President Juncker´s proactive transparency policy continues to fail to address loopholes in lobbying transparency rules and does not ensure balanced stakeholder consultation, according to a new analysis by the Alliance for Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU). Brussels/Madrid, 20 February 2017 - ALTER-EU criticised the loopholes in the Commission’s policy on lobby transparency after its latest research exposes that 81 per cent of lobby meetings with DG FISMA between January and July 2016 fell outside the current proactive transparency obligations. These meetings (held only with lower-level officials) are not subject to the Commission’s disclosure regime and

Commission data reveals lobby transparency loopholes and corporate bias2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00
17 Feb 2017

OGP in Spain: More political will on participation, but legal battles for information are still underway!

2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00

[Article first published by the Open Government Partnership Blog] Madrid, 17 February 2017 - February has been a month in which numerous high level political figures in Spain have been found guilty and sent to jail on corruption charges, including King Felipe VI’s own brother-in-law sentenced to six years in prison (more info in English here), things are also moving forward in a positive way when it comes to developing open government, with a new political team working on the next OGP Action Plan and Madrid City Hall holding an innovative, large-scale, public consultation as part of its first OGP

OGP in Spain: More political will on participation, but legal battles for information are still underway!2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00
17 Feb 2017

Cypriot lawmakers challenged to ensure FOI is free and exceptions are limited

2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00

[UPDATE: Madrid, 1 March 2017 - On 28 February, Access Info Europe sent its comments to the text of the draft FOI law, to be debated at the Cypriot Parliament Legal Committee: ] Nicosia/Madrid, 17 February 2017 – Access Info Europe this week addressed an in-person hearing in the Cypriot Parliament and called for the draft FOI law to be amended to remove fees for making requests and to reduce time limits for responses, in particular cutting down the possible 60 days extension for complex requests. Speaking to the Cypriot Parliament’s Legal Committee on Thursday 16 February 2017, Andreas Pavlou,

Cypriot lawmakers challenged to ensure FOI is free and exceptions are limited2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00
2 Feb 2017

European Parliament votes in favour of beneficial ownership transparency for fishing vessels

2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00

Madrid, 2 February 2017 - Access Info Europe welcomed today’s European Parliament plenary vote overwhelmingly in favour of a regulation that will introduce beneficial ownership transparency for EU fishing vessels. MEPs voted 586 in favour, with 56 against and just 6 abstentions, to create a public register of the EU flagged fishing fleet, something that will contribute to the fight against illegal and unsustainable fishing, as well as limiting opportunities for money laundering and tax evasion by vessel owners. “The Parliament’s position represents an opportunity for the EU to make its fisheries policy a leading example of how beneficial ownership

European Parliament votes in favour of beneficial ownership transparency for fishing vessels2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00
31 Jan 2017

Access Info calls on Commission to publish travel expenses data proactively

2018-11-13T10:03:43+01:00

Madrid, 31 January 2017 – Following a massive public response to Access Info’s campaign to crowd source requests for Commissioners’ expenses, the organisation has written to Vice President Frans Timmermans calling for the data to be proactively published. In under two days on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 January, a total of 119 people from across Europe submitted a total of 168 requests for access to the 2016 travel expenses claims of the 28 European Commissioners. “The rapid response to this campaign demonstrates the huge public interest in getting this information into the public domain,” stated Andreas Pavlou, Access Info’s

Access Info calls on Commission to publish travel expenses data proactively2018-11-13T10:03:43+01:00
27 Jan 2017

Commission says that Juncker had to take an emergency air taxi when the Belgian air force let him down

2018-11-13T10:03:43+01:00

Madrid, 27 January 2017 - A European Union spokesperson last night told Germany online publication Netzpolitik.org that the €63,126 that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spent on an air taxi from Turkey to Brussels in November 2015 was an emergency expense incurred the Belgian Air Force let them down on the planned flight home. Commission Spokesperson Alexander Winterstein wrote to German FOI campaigner Arne Semsrott, author of an article about the campaign in Netzpolitik.org that: “The return flight of Presidents Tusk and Juncker, as well as the accompanying delegations, from the G-20 meeting in Antalya could not be carried out

Commission says that Juncker had to take an emergency air taxi when the Belgian air force let him down2018-11-13T10:03:43+01:00
26 Jan 2017

Request campaign launched for access to EU Commissioners’ travel expenses

2018-11-13T10:03:43+01:00

Madrid, 26 January 2017 - Access Info Europe today launched a public campaign to crowd source access to EU documents requests to obtain full information on the spending by EU Commissioners on travel costs. CLICK HERE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CAMPAIGN! The campaign follows the discovery from a request by Access Info team member Alba Gutiérrez that Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spent €63,126 on an air taxi to Turkey for the G20 summit. At same time, the Commission’s contracts with private air companies that provide such services was denied to another Access Info campaigner, Andreas Pavlou. After

Request campaign launched for access to EU Commissioners’ travel expenses2018-11-13T10:03:43+01:00
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