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20 Nov 2015

Giegold Report Welcomed but Could Be More Ambitious Says Access Info

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

Madrid, 20 November 2015 - Access Info Europe today welcomed recommendations by Sven Giegold MEP, Rapporteur for the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, on greater transparency and accountability ofEU institutions, but has warned that they do not go far enough in addressing the need to improve access to EU documents in law and in practice. The pro-transparency organisation pointed to the need for exceptions to the right of access to EU documents be subject to a public interest test, and the importance of removing barriers to access such as the requirement since April 2014 that requesters must supply

Giegold Report Welcomed but Could Be More Ambitious Says Access Info2018-11-13T10:04:36+01:00
20 Nov 2015

Access Info presents: The Berlaymont Snail!

2018-11-13T10:04:37+01:00

It’s just like the good old days: the doorbell rings, and there is the postman with a registered letter – how exciting!! - you sign and open it, but nowadays you are more likely to find it’s a letter from the European Commission refusing to grant access to this or that document. These days we refer to the postal service as “snail mail”. And yes, once again the Berlaymont Snail has arrived in Madrid to deliver a letter to Access Info! Except that the refusal to grant access to information had already arrived ten days ago via AsktheEU.org. The Commission's

Access Info presents: The Berlaymont Snail!2018-11-13T10:04:37+01:00
20 Nov 2015

Journalists take European Parliament to Court over access to MEPs’ expenses

2018-11-13T10:04:37+01:00

Madrid, 20 November 2015 - The refusal by the European Parliament to make public details on spending of MEPs expenses allowances on grounds of personal data protection has been challenged before the European Court of Justice by a network of journalists from each of the 28 Member States. This initiative was started by Slovenian journalist Anuška Delić who discovered that she could get information about the expenses of members of the Slovenian parliament but not about Slovenian MEPs in Brussels. Welcoming the legal challenge, Access Info argued that the European Parliament should be setting a standard for levels of transparency

Journalists take European Parliament to Court over access to MEPs’ expenses2018-11-13T10:04:37+01:00
12 Nov 2015

Access Info wins access to names of participants in meetings held by Spanish government

2018-11-13T10:04:37+01:00

Madrid, 12 November 2015 – In an important ruling from Spain’s Transparency Council, Access Info Europe has won access to the names of participants in meetings held to discuss the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Welcoming this standard-setting ruling Access Info Europe noted that it should contribute to genuine accountability of decision-making processes. Helen Darbishire of Access Info, who presented the complaint, said “it is essential to know who precisely gets to participate in meetings inside government, be they public officials, experts, lobbyists, or others.” Importantly the Transparency Council confirmed that Spain’s 2013 Transparency Law anticipates provision of information which “merely

Access Info wins access to names of participants in meetings held by Spanish government2018-11-13T10:04:37+01:00
21 Oct 2015

Access Info welcomes Cyprus’ commitment to strong FOI law

2018-11-13T10:04:38+01:00

Madrid, 21 October 2015 - Access Info Europe has welcomed Cypriot Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou’s commitment to adopt a strong access to information (Freedom of Information) law that will be “one of the best in the European Union”. The pro-transparency organisation, headquartered in Madrid, urges the Cypriot government to act on this promise, noting that in order to bring the law into line with European and international standards, the government should recognise the fundamental nature of the right, including all public bodies in the law, reducing the number of exceptions, and removing other obstacles such as the requirement to provide

Access Info welcomes Cyprus’ commitment to strong FOI law2018-11-13T10:04:38+01:00
30 Sep 2015

Civil society calls for reform of trialogues in a letter to EU Commission, Parliament and Council

2020-01-29T11:25:49+01:00

Madrid, 30 September 2015 - Access Info Europe along with European Digital Rights (EDRi) and other 16 signatory organisations, today sent an open letter to European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Council Secretary-General Jeppe Tranholm-Mikkelsen, calling for a major reform of the so-called “trialogues”. The letter calls for public access to be granted to the trialogue meetings, and for the systematic and timely publication of all trialogue documents. The letter remains open to signatories. “Citizens should be able to scrutinise EU decision-making,” said Andreas Pavlou, Campaigner Researcher at Access Info Europe. “The lack of transparency around

Civil society calls for reform of trialogues in a letter to EU Commission, Parliament and Council2020-01-29T11:25:49+01:00
28 Sep 2015

Time to get serious on Transparency!

2021-06-04T12:33:04+02:00

Madrid, 28 September 2015, By Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe I am sitting in the Access Info Europe office in Madrid and staring in dismay at a document from the European Commission which seems to have more black lines covering the information it contains than anything useful. Dismayed and also amazed that the reason for not giving out information about a possibly problematic public procurement process in Serbia – a waste sludge processing plant to be funded with European taxpayer’s money – is apparently the personal privacy of those responsible for the decision. It’s 28 September 2015, the

Time to get serious on Transparency!2021-06-04T12:33:04+02:00
21 Aug 2015

Access Info submits recommendations to European Parliament on improving EU transparency

2020-01-29T11:14:30+01:00

Madrid, 21 August 2015 - Access Info Europe today sent recommendations on improving transparency in the EU in law and in practice to Sven Giegold MEP (Greens, Germany) rapporteur for the Initiative Report for Transparency, Integrity and Accountability in the EU institutions. Key problems that need to be addressed urgently include ensuring that all exceptions to the right of access to documents are subject to a public interest test, and that recently-introduced artificial barriers to access such as the need to supply a postal address be removed. Access Info’s recommendations are based on analysis of the ways the EU’s access

Access Info submits recommendations to European Parliament on improving EU transparency2020-01-29T11:14:30+01:00
30 Jul 2015

Cyprus: Draft FOI law seriously below European standards

2018-11-13T10:04:48+01:00

Madrid, 30 July 2015 – Access Info Europe has urged the government of Cyprus to greatly improve its draft access to information law in order to meet basic international transparency standards. An analysis of the draft text using the Right to Information Rating indicators found that Cyprus would come in at position 97 of 102 countries globally, scoring a dismal 57 of 150 points. It would not be able to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents. In a submission sent to the Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou, the pro-transparency organisation recommended significant amendments to

Cyprus: Draft FOI law seriously below European standards2018-11-13T10:04:48+01:00
28 Jul 2015

European Ombudsman investigates lack of transparency in selection of judges for European Court of Justice

2018-11-13T09:46:11+01:00

Madrid, 27 July 2015 – The European Ombudsman last week called on the Council of the European Union to respond to allegations made by Access Info Europe and the HEC-NYU EU Public Interest Clinic that it wrongly refused access to information on selection processes used for judges entering the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The EU Clinic originally requested access to the opinions of the panel that examines all judicial candidates put forward by the Member States for the Court of Justice and the General Court of the EU. The information was denied on the basis that

European Ombudsman investigates lack of transparency in selection of judges for European Court of Justice2018-11-13T09:46:11+01:00
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