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9 Feb 2016

Spain: Government goes to court to keep secret documents about … open government!

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

Madrid, 9 February 2016 - The Spanish government has launched a court case against Spain’s Transparency Council to challenge a decision that it should release documents relating to the implementation of Spain’s two Open Government Partnership action plans. In November 2015, Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe, secured a ruling from the Transparency Council that the Ministry of the Presidency should make public reports from Ministries about progress being made on Open Government Partnership commitments. In its ruling, the Transparency Council argued that documents about Spain’s open government activities cannot be exempted as being “internal” because they are

Spain: Government goes to court to keep secret documents about … open government!2018-11-13T10:04:13+01:00
8 Feb 2016

Austria: Draft FOI law falls short of international standards

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

Access Info/IPI analysis welcomes progress, but urges reforms to better guarantee right to information Madrid/Vienna, 8 February 2016 – Austria’s draft freedom of information (FOI) law requires significant further reforms in order to meet international standards governing transparency and the right to information, Access Info Europe and the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) said today upon jointly releasing an analysis of the draft. The analysis, conducted by Access Info, welcomes Austria’s initiative to replace an outdated legal framework that “until now has severely restricted access to information held by Austrian public bodies”. Key weaknesses in the proposed FOI law (Informationsfreiheitsgesetz)

Austria: Draft FOI law falls short of international standards2018-11-13T10:04:13+01:00
29 Jan 2016

Madrid City Hall Transparency Ordinance Sets a High Standard

2018-11-13T10:04:14+01:00

Civil society recommends strengthening proactive publication and lobbying regulation Madrid, 29 enero 2016 – Madrid City Hall has prepared a high standard and comprehensive Transparency Ordinance which meets with civil society demands in areas such as proactive publication obligations, the right of access to information, and regulation of lobbies, according to Access Info Europe and other members of Coalición Pro Acceso. At the same time, the organisations have suggested various improvements including expanding the list of information to be published proactively, establishing a sanctions regime for breaches of the right of access to information, and strengthening regulation of lobbyists. These

Madrid City Hall Transparency Ordinance Sets a High Standard2018-11-13T10:04:14+01:00
22 Jan 2016

Access Info sets out transparency priorities for EU with Green/EFA Group

2018-11-13T10:10:55+01:00

Madrid, 22 January 2016 – Access Info Europe has outlined key actions that will help to increase transparency of EU decision-making and lobbying, in its submission as part of a consultation on civil society priority areas held by the Green/EFA Group. The pro-transparency organisation called upon the Greens to push EU institutions towards the proactive publication of information such as agendas, minutes, and participants of meetings between EU public officials and lobbyists. Access Info Europe also called for the currently-secret interinstitutional “trialogue” meetings to be made public, as part of an agenda to open up lobbying activities and decision-making processes

Access Info sets out transparency priorities for EU with Green/EFA Group2018-11-13T10:10:55+01:00
17 Dec 2015

The Uncounted: Lack Of Migrant Detention Data Denounced

2018-11-13T10:04:24+01:00

Madrid/Geneva, 17 November 2015 - A serious lack of information about the number of migrants and asylum seekers in detention across Europe is impeding informed public debate, report Access Info Europe and the Global Detention Project following submission of access to information requests in 33 countries. The report comes as EU heads of government meet in Brussels for their last summit of the year, with migration a key topic. This lack of publicly available information on the scale and nature of detention is of particular concern now as Europe seeks to restrict the arrival of refugees. In the report issued

The Uncounted: Lack Of Migrant Detention Data Denounced2018-11-13T10:04:24+01:00
17 Dec 2015

Civil society expose holes in EU lobby transparency rules

2018-11-13T10:04:24+01:00

This post was originally published by ALTER-EU. Madrid/Brussels, 17 December 2015 - Research by ALTER-EU member groups Corporate Europe Observatory, Access Info Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe shows that well over 90 per cent of meetings between DG FISMA (the Commission's department for financial regulation) officials not covered by transparency rules and lobbyists are with the corporate sector. Since the end of 2014, following an initiative by new European Commission President Juncker, the meetings of commissioners, their cabinets and directors-general with lobbyists are published online. This transparency initiative has enabled the public to see which lobbyists get most

Civil society expose holes in EU lobby transparency rules2018-11-13T10:04:24+01:00
15 Dec 2015

Update: Slovenian parliament withdraws proposed charges for information requests

2018-11-13T10:04:24+01:00

Madrid, 15 December 2015 – In the face of strong national and international reaction to the proposal to introduce charges for the time of public officials in answering information requests, Slovenian coalition parties today withdrew the problematic amendment to Article 24 of the new Freedom of Information Act from the legislative procedure. This decision was welcomed by Access Info Europe, the Association of Slovenian Journalists, Transparency International Slovenia, and the European Federation of Journalists, who in recent days had raised concerns about the proposed amendment (read the original story from 14 December). We are pleased that coalition parties heard and

Update: Slovenian parliament withdraws proposed charges for information requests2018-11-13T10:04:24+01:00
10 Dec 2015

Electronic ID requirements and government refusal to answer emails force civil society to close Spanish request website

2018-11-13T10:04:25+01:00

Madrid, 10 December 2015 – It is with huge reluctance that Access Info Europe and Civio today announce the closure of the request website “Tu Derecho a Saber” (Your Right to Know) because the need to have an electronic ID and the refusal to respond to emails is making it impossible to help the public send requests. In the first year of implementation of Spain’s much-criticised transparency law, we processed requests manually, using Civio’s electronic ID to send them via the central Transparency Portal’s complex verification systems, something that was taking up to a few hours per day. On 10

Electronic ID requirements and government refusal to answer emails force civil society to close Spanish request website2018-11-13T10:04:25+01:00
27 Nov 2015

Documents used in decision making are not “internal” rules Spain’s Transparency Council

2018-11-13T10:04:36+01:00

Madrid, 27 November 2015 – In another important decision from Spain’s Transparency Council, Access Info Europe has been granted access to Spanish government progress reports on Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments. The Transparency Council’s decision rejects arguments by the Ministry of the Presidency that these documents, which were used as part of the decision-making process, are “internal documents.” In August 2015, Access Info’s director Helen Darbishire asked for copies of OGP-related documents in order to get an insight into what the government is doing in implementing the action plan. This request was necessary because, unlike in other OGP countries, there

Documents used in decision making are not “internal” rules Spain’s Transparency Council2018-11-13T10:04:36+01:00
23 Nov 2015

Decision Making Transparency is an Essential Part of Open Government Access Info Europe tells UK FOI Commission

2018-11-13T10:04:36+01:00

Madrid, 23 November 2015 – Access Info Europe has warned that any move by the UK government to amend the FOI law by expanding blanket exceptions to decision-making transparency or by extending a political veto over disclosure, would be an attack on international standards. These concerns were set out in a submission to the government-appointed FOI Commission, which has been criticised for being stacked with transparency sceptics. The Commission’s consultation document opened the possibility of extending the use of Cabinet vetoes to block disclosure of information, even after a judicial decision to do so. Access Info Europe called for the

Decision Making Transparency is an Essential Part of Open Government Access Info Europe tells UK FOI Commission2018-11-13T10:04:36+01:00
Original content developed by Access Info Europe and is made public under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike licence.