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28 May 2019

Contest: Digital solution for citizen participation

2020-01-29T10:49:27+01:00

You have an idea for a new app or platform which can enable better communication and cooperation of citizens in addressing the problems of their communities? You think that digital democracy can support higher inclusion of citizens in policy-making? If your answers to these questions are positive, we invite you to share your idea about innovative digital solution which would strengthen citizen activism and improve the communication between citizens and decision-makers. We will select maximum 5 best ideas, while a grant award in the amount of 2,000 Euros will be awarded to the winner with the aim of developing the

Contest: Digital solution for citizen participation2020-01-29T10:49:27+01:00
5 Oct 2017

Transparency is core feature of new Council of Europe Guidelines on participation

2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00

Madrid, 5 October 2017 – Access Info Europe has welcomed the inclusion of core access to information principles in the Council of Europe’s Guidelines on public participation in decision making. The Guidelines, published last week on the eve of Right to Know Day (27 September 2017), include two of the pro-transparency organisation’s recommendations submitted during the 2016 public consultation: the need for timely provision of information and the narrow application of possible exceptions to access. “With the adoption of these guidelines, members of the Council of Europe must push to bridge the gap between citizens and decision makers, by enabling

Transparency is core feature of new Council of Europe Guidelines on participation2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00
29 Sep 2017

Decision-Making Transparency in Europe identified as top priority on International Right to Know Day

2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00

Brussels, 29 September 2017 – Members of the European Parliament together with CSOs, academics, and journalists from across the EU have called for greater openness of decision making and full transparency of spending of public funds in the final declaration of an International Right to Know Day event held on 28 September 2017. The closing statement of the expert, high-level event, organised by the European Parliament’s cross-party Transparency and Anti-Corruption Intergroup (ITCO) along with Access Info Europe and Anticor Belgium, also called for full respect for the right of access to information, and urged all EU Member States to align

Decision-Making Transparency in Europe identified as top priority on International Right to Know Day2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00
18 Mar 2017

EU-Turkey agreement, one year later: lack of information blockading accountability

2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

Madrid, 18 March 2017 – On the first anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal, Access Info called for greater transparency of the decision making process of the agreement and condemned the inadequate record keeping and misleading statements. One year after concluding the agreement, stranded asylum seekers, human rights and humanitarian organisations, and the general public, are still denied even the most basic information about this agreement, including who is really responsible for it. Confusion increased on 1 March 2017 when the European Court of Justice ruled that the statement (press release) was “regrettably ambiguous” because in fact the agreement is between

EU-Turkey agreement, one year later: lack of information blockading accountability2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00
18 Mar 2017

One year later: what we (still don’t) know about the EU-Turkey agreement and accountability

2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00

Madrid, 18 March 2017 - As I sat at the Access Info Europe offices on the 1st of March reading the latest Order of the General Court of the European Union, I could not help but shake my head every other minute in disbelief. In a case brought by an Afghan refugee threatened with expulsion from Greece against the European Council, the Court had just proclaimed that the EU-Turkey agreement is not a measure adopted by the European Council or any EU institution for that matter, but rather by the EU Member States. Luisa Izuzquiza,Communications Officer   If

One year later: what we (still don’t) know about the EU-Turkey agreement and accountability2018-11-13T10:03:40+01:00
13 Dec 2016

Leave no trace? How to combat off the record government

2018-11-13T10:03:57+01:00

[Article first published by Progressive Economy @ TASC] Dublin, 13 December 2016 - While historical archives are a rich part of our cultural heritage, there are many day-to-day reasons why we should care about how governments and public bodies currently make and keep records of their actions and decisions. At a very basic level, records and are vital for good administration and efficiency. Records – like minutes of meetings, briefing documents and memos – tell us what, where and when something was done and why a decision was made. Records also provide a ‘paper trail’ of evidence for accountability purposes,

Leave no trace? How to combat off the record government2018-11-13T10:03:57+01:00
2 Dec 2016

Access Info challenges European Commission secrecy around EU-Turkey refugee deal legal advice before the European Court of Justice

2018-11-13T10:03:57+01:00

Madrid, 2 December 2016 – Access Info Europe is taking the European Commission to the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union to obtain its legal analysis of this year’s controversial EU-Turkey deal on return of refugees to Turkey. The 18 March 2016 deal – officially “statement” – which is having a direct impact in the lives of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers fleeing war - was much-criticized by human rights groups for being out of line with international human rights and humanitarian law. Access Info Europe submitted two access to information requests asking for

Access Info challenges European Commission secrecy around EU-Turkey refugee deal legal advice before the European Court of Justice2018-11-13T10:03:57+01:00
24 Nov 2016

Europe: access to information in practice, not just on paper

2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00

[Article first published by the Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso] Long established and widely recognized, the right to access to information is severely curtailed in many European countries due to deficient implementation of existing law In case you missed it, this year marks the 250th anniversary since the world’s first transparency law was adopted, in Sweden in 1766. At a quick glance, it seems we have a lot to celebrate in Europe – every country on the continent (bar Cyprus and Luxembourg which have draft laws) now has a transparency law that gives citizens the right of access to government-held information.

Europe: access to information in practice, not just on paper2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00
28 Sep 2016

Statement by European RTI Community on the world’s First Official Access to Information Day!

2018-11-13T10:10:35+01:00

Madrid, 28 September 2016 - On the first officially-recognised International Right to Know Day [1], European civil society groups working on the right of access to information today raised concerns that a lack of government transparency is damaging democratic processes, thereby facilitating rising mistrust and demagogic populism in Europe. Recent monitoring by civil society organisations has demonstrated that while significant progress has been made - there are now 111 access to information laws globally and governments regularly publish key datasets on spending and services - there remain serious shortcomings with transparency of decision making which is shielding much government activity

Statement by European RTI Community on the world’s First Official Access to Information Day!2018-11-13T10:10:35+01:00
5 Sep 2016

Record-keeping and timely publication of information are essential for meaningful participation Access Info tells Council of Europe

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

Madrid, 5 September 2016 – Access Info has submitted recommendations to the Council of Europe on how to improve its Draft guidelines for meaningful civil participation in political decision-making so as to ensure that records are kept and that there is timely publication of relevant documents. This recommendation comes after research across Europe by Access Info and partners revealed abysmal levels of record keeping. For example, of 21 decision-making processes in nine countries, for half of them (10) no minutes of meetings had been created. Similarly, the research found that for only four of 34 processes were documents submitted by

Record-keeping and timely publication of information are essential for meaningful participation Access Info tells Council of Europe2018-11-13T10:04:00+01:00
Original content developed by Access Info Europe and is made public under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike licence.