Madrid, 10 December 2014 - Access Info Europe has called for significant improvements to the legal framework and implementation of the right of access to information at the EU level, as the European Commission finalises its work programme this week. In the letter to Vice President Timmermans, Access Info suggests the Commission focus on expanding the scope of Regulation 1049/2001 in line with the Treaty of Lisbon to cover all institutions, offices, bodies and agencies; bring exceptions on access to documents into line with international standards; and to clarify the relationship between the right of access to documents and the

Madrid, 28 October 2014 - Access Info Europe, the specialist right to information campaigners, today joined 32 civil society organisations calling on the European Commission to clarify the framework for copyright within the European Union. The position paper by Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU calls on the European Commission to bring copyright law into the 21st century, redefining the balance between public commons and private property, and shortening copyright terms to the minimum term possible under existing international treaties and conventions. Access Info Europe has a particular concern to ensure that all information created by EU bodies should be open

Madrid, 31 July 2014 – Access Info Europe today welcomed the decision by the European Ombudsman to call for more proactive disclosure of documents to stakeholders surrounding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, and to open investigations into the Council of the EU and EU Commission’s lack of transparency around these talks. Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has offered a range of practical measures to enable timely public access to TTIP documents, and to details of meetings with stakeholders. Referring to the pro-transparency jurisprudence established by Access Info’s case against the Council (won in October 2013) as well as by

Madrid, 25 July 2014 - Helen Darbishire and Pamela Bartlett of Access Info Europe analyse the wider consequences of the recent European Court of Justice ruling, which will make it harder to deny access to EU documents relating to international relations or to containing legal advice. The 3 July 2014 pro-transparency ruling by the European Court of Justice in the legal battle for access to negotiations between the European Union and the United States on sharing financial transaction data in order to fight terrorism, will make it harder for the EU to deny access to documents relating to international relations

Madrid, 9 July 2014 – The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is considering adopting a policy on access to clinical trials data which imposes stricter confidentiality requirements and restricts citizens’ ability to exercise the right of access to documents. The proposed policy on proactive publication of clinical trial data has caused concern for Access Info Europe and other civil society organizations, who fear that the EMA’s ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Redaction Principles’ would constitute a step backwards for EU transparency. Health organisations and the European Ombudsman were some of the first to express their concerns on the matter [1].