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28 May 2015

Access Info Europe welcomes European Ombudsman investigation into excessive secrecy of “trilogues”

2018-11-13T09:46:30+01:00

Madrid, 28 May 2015 - Access Info Europe today welcomed the decision by the European Ombudsman to investigate the lack of transparency of “trilogues”, the informal and secretive negotiations between the EU’s Commission, Council and Parliament by which much future legislation is decided. In spite of their crucial role in the legislative process, trilogues are closed meetings, and there is a severe lack of access to key information such as participants, agendas, minutes or documents considered. Access Info has frequently criticised trilogues for violating the fundamental rights obligations of the EU treaties, which require that EU institutions “conduct their work

Access Info Europe welcomes European Ombudsman investigation into excessive secrecy of “trilogues”2018-11-13T09:46:30+01:00
22 May 2015

AsktheEU.org and the EU Institutions: The Challenge of running an Alaveteli Request Platform

2018-11-13T09:46:30+01:00

Madrid, 22 May 2015 - Following AlaveteliCon 2015 in Madrid on 19-20 May, Access Info Europe’s director Helen Darbishire, reflects on 3.5 years of running the AsktheEU.org website for making documents requests to the European Union. In particular she notes the successes, challenges and lessons learned about the relationship with the EU Institutions and public officials. Access Info Europe launched AsktheEU.org on 28 September 2011 on International Right to Know Day at an event in the European Parliament organised by the European Ombudsman. One of our first messages was the desire to cooperate with the various EU bodies in making

AsktheEU.org and the EU Institutions: The Challenge of running an Alaveteli Request Platform2018-11-13T09:46:30+01:00
11 May 2015

Over 100 NGOs urge EU Commission to make the lobby register legally binding

2020-01-29T11:07:28+01:00

Brussels, 11 May 2015 - The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) [1] has urged European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans to take strong and urgent action to create a high-quality and legally-binding EU lobby transparency register in a letter sent to him today, signed by over one hundred non-governmental organisations and trade unions, and supported by the European Parliament Intergroup on Integrity [2]. The letter calls on the Commission to adopt measures to reduce opportunities for unethical lobbying, and to ensure a better balance between corporate and public interest groups in the access to, and influence they

Over 100 NGOs urge EU Commission to make the lobby register legally binding2020-01-29T11:07:28+01:00
29 Apr 2015

Full Lobby Transparency campaign launched with ALTER-EU debate at the Parliament

2018-11-13T09:46:33+01:00

This article was originally published on ALTER-EU.org: http://www.alter-eu.org/alter-eus-new-campaign-launched-with-transparency-debate-at-the-parliament Brussels, 29 April 2015 - ALTER-EU launched its new campaign Full lobby transparency now! with a high-profile debate. Held at the European Parliament, panellists included ALTER-EU members and officials from the Commission, Parliament and Council. Here, Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans renewed the Commission's commitment to a mandatory lobby register but postponed submitting a proposal to the Autumn. Timmermans also rejected the possibility of trying to do so via legislation, instead choosing to implement a sanctions-based system for the unregistered and those who submit false information. Facing a fully packed house, the Vice-President

Full Lobby Transparency campaign launched with ALTER-EU debate at the Parliament2018-11-13T09:46:33+01:00
24 Apr 2015

The Transparency of the Policing of Protests

2018-11-13T09:46:33+01:00

Report finds Europe-wide Lack of Transparency of Policing of Protests Madrid, 24 April 2015 - There is a serious lack of transparency about the use of various types of equipment during policing of protests according to a report published today by Access Info Europe, following research conducted in 42 countries and territories across Europe by means of access to information requests. The research by the Madrid-based pro-transparency organisation aimed to get a comprehensive picture of the legal framework for, and the actual use of different types of, equipment – including batons, shields, tear gas, and rubber bullets. This goal was

The Transparency of the Policing of Protests2018-11-13T09:46:33+01:00
21 Apr 2015

High levels of administrative silence leave Spanish FOI requesters in the dark

2018-11-13T09:46:33+01:00

Madrid, 22 April 2015 - Levels of administrative silence remained high in Spain in 2014, in the year running up to Europe’s newest transparency law coming into force, according to a report published by civil society organisations Access Info Europe and Civio. Out of the 314 requests for information sent via the Tuderechoasaber.es request platform in 2014, 42% did not receive any reply from Spanish institutions or public bodies. This is a drop from the 57% recorded in 2013. Satisfactory responses to requests rose marginally from 12.7% to 18.5%, which remains an unacceptably low level in a country where the

High levels of administrative silence leave Spanish FOI requesters in the dark2018-11-13T09:46:33+01:00
15 Apr 2015

Pressure mounts as two more MEPs question Commission on postal addresses policy

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

Madrid/Brussels, 15 April 2015 – Two prominent defenders of EU transparency, MEPs Sophie In ’t Veld (Netherlands, Liberal) and Heidi Hautala (Finland, Greens), yesterday tabled a joint Parliamentary question calling on the European Commission to explain its policy of refusing to register access to documents requests if requesters do not provide a personal postal address as a form of identification. Access Info Europe welcomed the move by the MEPs, noting that the Commission has still not responded to an earlier question tabled by MEP Julia Reda (Germany, Pirate Party) on 27 January 2015, despite the 6-week deadline stipulated in the

Pressure mounts as two more MEPs question Commission on postal addresses policy2018-11-13T10:05:11+01:00
13 Apr 2015

Europe-wide Lack of Transparency of Policing of Protests

2021-06-03T17:49:19+02:00

Madrid, 13 April 2015 - There is a serious lack of transparency about the use of various types of equipment during policing of protests according to Access Info Europe, following research conducted in 42 countries and territories across Europe by means of access to information requests. The research by the Madrid-based pro-transparency organisation aimed to get a comprehensive picture of the legal framework for and actual use of different types of equipment – including batons, shields, tear gas, and rubber bullets. This goal was frustrated by the fact that not one of the 42 countries surveyed provided full information to

Europe-wide Lack of Transparency of Policing of Protests2021-06-03T17:49:19+02:00
10 Apr 2015

Seeking Sign-ons for Letter to European Commission on Lobby Transparency

2018-11-13T09:46:34+01:00

Madrid, 10 April 2015 - The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU), which Access Info participates in as a Steering Committee member, is seeking sign-ons from civil society organisations for a letter to European Vice-President Frans Timmermans, as part of our campaign to improve lobbying transparency in Brussels. The EU has a voluntary lobby register that covers the European Parliament and European Commission. The register is meant to tell us who the EU's lobbyists are; who they are working for; how much they spend on influencing policy; and what specific dossiers they lobby on. Yet the lobby register

Seeking Sign-ons for Letter to European Commission on Lobby Transparency2018-11-13T09:46:34+01:00
Original content developed by Access Info Europe and is made public under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike licence.