Access Info Europe today joined Corporate Europe Observatory, Transparência e Integridade and 63 other civil society organisations from across Europe, calling on the incoming Portuguese Presidency of the European Union to push for much needed lobby transparency, accountability and democratic reforms within the Council.
Brussels, 9 December 2020 – On International Anti-Corruption Day 2020, 101 leading transparency, anti-corruption and open data organisations along with investigative journalists from across Europe have called on the European Commission and national governments to act to ensure that company registers, including ownership and corporate structure data, are freely accessible and published in open data format. In an open letter sent today to Thierry Breton, Internal Market Commissioner, and Vera Jourová, Vice President for Values and Transparency, the organisations respond to threats to reduce access to company registers to only very basic data, without the names of owners, when the
Strasbourg (virtual participation), 17 November 2020 – Access Info today called on all member states of the Council of Europe to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents – the Tromsø Convention – with a particular call on France, Germany, Italy and the UK to follow Spain in ensuring that Europe’s largest countries are party to the Convention.
Access Info Europe is delighted to announce its selection as the Regional Hub for the European Union for the Global Data Barometer (GDB), with responsibility for mapping levels of open data in 20 European countries as part of the 2021 global study.
Spain has adopted an ambitious four-year Open Government Action Plan, replete with measures called for by Access Info, including reform of the 2013 Transparency Law, ratification of the Convention on Access to Official Documents, new laws on lobby regulation and whistleblower protection, and the opening of key data, including the company register and some health service data.
Madrid, 2 October 2020- The global news headlines might be talking about the worrying rise in coronavirus infections in Madrid - and the new lockdown - but there is also a lot of good news for transparency activists coming out of Spain this week, beautifully timed to coincide with International Access to Information Day on 28 September.
Madrid, 28 September 2020- On the occasion of International Access to Information Day, the pro-transparency organisation Access Info Europe is calling on the governments of the European region to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, which will come into force on 1 December 2020, and to commit to strengthening this fundamental right.
Access Info Europe and the Open Data Charter co-hosted a RightsCon panel where they spoke with data and privacy experts on the importance of making data open during the Covid-19 pandemic, while ensuring both the public’s safety and the privacy of the individual.
Madrid, 31 August 2020 – An open letter, signed by 28 health organisations, transparency associations, and academics, has called on the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to take the simple step of providing an email address so that EU citizens can send access to documents requests directly via email.
Madrid, 28 August 2020– Access Info Europe is glad to announce that its director, Helen Darbishire, has been elected as the new Chair of the UNCAC Coalition, the network that coordinates civil society activity in monitoring and promoting the UN Convention against Corruption.