Madrid/Luxembourg, 17 October 2013 — In a case brought by Access Info Europe, the European Court of Justice today rejected arguments by the Council of the European Union that it should be able to keep secret the identities of Member States making proposals in the context of negotiations on future EU legislation. This is the final ruling – by the highest court of the EU - in an important legal battle for greater transparency of the legislative process in Brussels in line with the EU treaties which require the European Parliament and the Council to "ensure publication of the documents

Madrid, 2 October 2013 - The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will formally announce its final ruling on the Access Info v Council of the European Union court case on 17 October 2013, after four years of legal battle. The second instance ECJ will now have the final word on whether or not it is legitimate for the Council to systematically blank out the names of Member States in documents summarising legislative negotiations before handing them out to the public. The dispute is about whether or not public access to the summaries of Council working party meetings, including details on

Brussels, 27 September 2013 -The European Central Bank regularly invokes the need to protect monetary policy and the financial stability of the Union and its Member States when refusing access to information a report by Access Info presented in Brussels today has revealed. Requesters are often seeking information about exchanges with Member States on the financial crisis. One third (36%) of requests resulted in full or partial refusals, with just 32% of requests receiving some or all information sought. Access Info has called on the ECB to review the legitimacy of its exceptions which are not all in line with

There are six organisations involved in the Alter Citizens Project. These are Access Info Europe – based in Spain, AITEC – based in France, Environmental Law Service – based in the Czech Republic, Friends of the Earth Europe – based in Belgium, Health Action International – based in the Netherlands, and SpinWatch – based in the UK.

Madrid, 2 July 2013 – Today, a group of European civil society organisations, concerned by the nomination of MEPs in the EU Ombudsman election, sent a letter to MEPs calling on them to vote for an impartial and independent Ombudsman during the July plenary session. The election of the EU Ombudsman is being fought by 6 candidates; Alex Brenninkmeijer (The Netherlands), Markus Jaeger (Germany), Ria Oomen-Ruijten (The Netherlands), Emily O’Reilly (Ireland), Dagmar Roth-Behrendt (Germany), Francesco Speroni (Italy). You can read a copy of the letter, also signed by Access Info, below.

AG advises Court to dismiss challenge by Council Luxembourg/Madrid, 16 May 2013 – In the penultimate stage of Access Info’s court case for full access to a document relating to the reform of the EU’s access to documents rules, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has issued an opinion which advises the Court to dismiss the legal challenge brought by the Council of the EU against the March 2011 decision by the first instance General Court that the Council should provide Access Info Europe with the requested document.