Madrid/Brussels, 7 March 2014 – The European Central Bank (ECB) has once again come under fire for lack of transparency over the financial crisis, this time from the European Ombudsman who today regretted the decision not to release a letter sent to Ireland’s Finance Minister in November 2010. The ECB letter, which might reveal pressure on the Irish government to enter the EU’s bailout programme, was requested by Irish journalist and FOI activist Gavin Sheridan in December 2011 via the web platform AsktheEU.org. The request and all correspondence can be found here.

Madrid/Brussels, 7 March 2014 - Access Info Europe has welcomed the decision [1] by the European Parliament to bring greater transparency to its decision making by recording and publishing records of final voting in committee. Previously most committee votes were taken by a simple show of hands and were not recorded. The decision, adopted on 26 February 2014, applies to all final votes on resolutions and legislation. It also makes it compulsory to record and publish the final votes by MEPs in plenary on non-binding resolutions. “This decision will make it easier for citizens to hold MEPs to account, and

Madrid, 27 February 2014 – Access Info Europe today joined European civil society organisations campaigning for pledges from European Parliament election candidates to support the 10 point Charter of Digital Rights. This campaign is run EDRi, a network of European civil rights organisations defending digital rights. Between 22 and 25 May 2014, European Parliament elections will take place in 28 Member States. The next five years will be hugely important for digital rights, with legislation expected on copyright, cybercrime, data protection and surveillance. The campaign aims to put digital civil rights issues firmly on the agenda of the election campaigns

Brussels, 24-26 January 2014 – This year’s Hackathon of the European Parliament, attended by Access Info Europe and other activists and programmers, resulted in an interactive visualisation of MEP assets declarations. Other projects by participants included an application for analysing voting, an application for searching declarations of interests, and a website that allows you to see which subjects have been tackled by the EU parliament over the past legislature. At the Hackathon, Access Info took part in the project to visualise the assets declarations of MEPs, helping to create an informative and interactive visualisation for citizens to see how many

Madrid, 2 October 2013 – In the run up to the European Parliament elections in May 2014, Access Info has today written to all 766 Members of the European Parliament informing them of opinion poll findings which show huge support for transparency in the areas such as the financial crisis and lobbying by business. Over 80 % of the public wants greater transparency in areas such as Council decision-making, legal opinions on future laws, and spending of EU funds. Access Info has also submitted to MEPs recommendations from the public which make clear that greater access to information must be

Brussels, 11 July 2013 - The European Parliament has succeeded in getting the EU's access to documents Regulation 1049/2001 back on the agenda of the Council's working party on information, following a public debate and Motion for a Resolution which calls on the European Commission and the Member States to come back to the negotiating table. The EU's transparency negotiations have been stalled since the Danish Presidency failed to broker an agreement in the Council in June 2012. During the debate held in the Parliament on 21 May, which the EU transparency Commissioner Mr Maroš Šefčovič did not attend, the

Access Info Europe applies to join key case at European Court of Justice  Madrid, 6 May 2013 – Access Info Europe has applied to the European Court of Justice to intervene in a case which is of great importance to the European public in the context of the financial crisis: the case is about whether we have a right to know what key EU bodies, such as the European Central Bank, know about the financial health of Eurozone Member States. In a letter to the Court sent on 6 May 2013, Access Info Europe asked for leave to intervene in

European poll reveals widespread concern about EU Transparency   Vast majority of people want more transparency, ethics and lobbying regulation Brussels, 31 January 2013 – A majority of people across Europe are concerned about ethics and lobbying in European Union policy-making, and want better regulation of lobbyists, as well as increased transparency of the EU, according to a new opinion poll. [1] The poll conducted by TNS opinion, and completed by over 6,000 people in six European countries, reveals that three quarters (73%) of respondents are concerned that lobbyists representing the business sector have too much influence