EU Transparency

28 Jan 2022

European Commission President’s text messages are documents and can be requested says Ombudsman

Helen Darbishire2022-01-28T15:13:58+01:00

Madrid / Brussels, 28 January 2022 – Access Info has hailed today’s decision by the European Ombudsman that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s text messages with the CEO of Pfizer about Covid vaccine purchases are documents to which the public can request access. Access Info is calling for an urgent reform to ensure that the EU’s twenty-year-old access to documents rules are brought into line with the digital age. Rather remarkably, the European Commission had told Alexander Fanta, a journalist with netzpolitik.org, that because it does not register text messages, these cannot be requested. This refusal came to a

European Commission President’s text messages are documents and can be requested says OmbudsmanHelen Darbishire2022-01-28T15:13:58+01:00

24 Nov 2021

Spain signs the Tromsø Convention on Access to Official Documents

Helen Darbishire2023-07-27T15:44:00+02:00

Madrid, 24 November 2021 – Access Info today welcomed the signature by Spain of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents – the Tromsø Convention – fulfilling its commitment to do so under Spain’s current Open Government Partnership Action Plan. The Tromsø Convention was signed by Spain’s Representative to the Council of Europe, Manuel Montobbio, on 23 November 2021, in the presence of Assistant Secretary General Bjorn Berge. The commitment to sign and ratify the Tromsø Convention was secured by civil society, with active involvement of Access Info, as part of the co-creation of Spain's IV OGP

Spain signs the Tromsø Convention on Access to Official DocumentsHelen Darbishire2023-07-27T15:44:00+02:00

21 Oct 2021

It’s time for EU Member States to deliver transparency of fisheries control

Helen Darbishire2021-10-22T09:22:25+02:00

Madrid, 22 October 2021 – As negotiations get underway in Brussels on future regulation of the fishing sector, Access Info is calling on EU Member States to support increased transparency in fisheries control, in line with the proposals made by the European Parliament in March 2021. At stake is the reform of an existing rule, the controversial Article 113, which prohibits the European Commission from sharing fishing controls data with other persons, even with national and European parliamentarians, unless the relevant Member State has given express consent. Access Info has repeatedly criticised this problematic secrecy clause, which dates back to

It’s time for EU Member States to deliver transparency of fisheries controlHelen Darbishire2021-10-22T09:22:25+02:00

4 Oct 2021

Pandora Papers: How long before we have open company registers?

Helen Darbishire2021-10-04T22:14:48+02:00

Helen Darbishire, Director of Access Info Europe, reflects on what the Pandora Papers tell us about anti-corruption and integrity instruments in Europe, and calls on the European Commission to move urgently on opening up company registers. Helen is a member of the Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership, and is Chair of the UNCAC Coalition, a global civil society network working to combat corruption. Madrid, 4 October 2021 – The Pandora Papers leak reveals, once again, that the mega rich are using legal loopholes to avoid taxes and the corrupt are transferring money out of poorer countries into more

Pandora Papers: How long before we have open company registers?Helen Darbishire2021-10-04T22:14:48+02:00

28 Sep 2021

AsktheEU.org: 10th Birthday & 10,000 requests to the EU

Helen Darbishire2021-09-28T20:08:11+02:00

Access Info calls for all obstacles to requests to be removed Madrid, 28 September 2021 – On this year’s International Day for Universal Access to Information, Access Info is celebrating the over 10,000 access to documents requests sent via the AsktheEU.org platform since it was launched at a European Ombudsman event on the same day 10 years ago. AsktheEU.org, run by Access Info with support from mySociety, gives everyone a simple way to ask for access to the documents to European Union bodies, and also makes all the responses public. Browse the 10,000 requests on AsktheEU.org “AsktheEU.org makes EU transparency

AsktheEU.org: 10th Birthday & 10,000 requests to the EUHelen Darbishire2021-09-28T20:08:11+02:00

21 Sep 2021

Public kept in the dark over European Commission decision making on opening company ownership data

Helen Darbishire2021-09-21T16:07:53+02:00

Madrid, 20 September 2021 – In an open letter to European Commissioners Thierry Breton and Vera Jourová sent today, Access Info and other leading transparency organisations raised concerns about the Commission’s failure to take a decision on publication of company data under the Open Data Directive, even after the 17 June 2021 deadline Member States to transpose the directive has passed. The European Commission should by now have held a month-long public consultation on the Implementing Act for the Open Data Directive, permitting potential users, including journalists, businesses, and anti-corruption organisations, to put forward arguments as to its democratic value

Public kept in the dark over European Commission decision making on opening company ownership dataHelen Darbishire2021-09-21T16:07:53+02:00

3 Jun 2021

Open company registers across EU at risk because of revenue concerns of just three Member States

Helen Darbishire2021-06-07T16:44:50+02:00

Madrid, 3 June 2021- The European Commission is considering going back on the promise of requiring Member States to open company registers because a handful of rich countries – Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands – could lose income from selling this data, Access Info has discovered.

Open company registers across EU at risk because of revenue concerns of just three Member StatesHelen Darbishire2021-06-07T16:44:50+02:00

19 Apr 2021

EU General Court reduces the legal costs claimed by Frontex against transparency activists

Helen Darbishire2021-04-19T17:00:47+02:00

Madrid, 19 April 2021 – Access Info Europe today gave a cautious welcome to the ruling of the General Court of the European Union that Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, had overcharged when it issued a legal bill of €23,700 to two transparency activists after they lost a court case, and that this amount should be reduced to €10,520.

EU General Court reduces the legal costs claimed by Frontex against transparency activistsHelen Darbishire2021-04-19T17:00:47+02:00

19 Mar 2021

MEPs to vote on Frontex claiming legal costs from transparency activists

Helen Darbishire2021-04-01T14:37:29+02:00

Madrid/Brussels, 19 March 2021– Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the Budget Control Committee will vote on Monday 22 March 2021 on whether or not Frontex was right to claim €23,700.81 from two transparency activists after they lost an access to documents case at the Court of Justice of the European Union.

MEPs to vote on Frontex claiming legal costs from transparency activistsHelen Darbishire2021-04-01T14:37:29+02:00

11 Mar 2021

Win for Transparency: European Parliament supports amending Article 113 of Fisheries Control Regulation

Helen Darbishire2021-04-01T14:38:12+02:00

Madrid, 11 March 2021– Access Info Europe welcomes the vote by the European Parliament to remove limits on access to information in the controversial Article 113 of the EU’s Fisheries Control regulation.

Win for Transparency: European Parliament supports amending Article 113 of Fisheries Control RegulationHelen Darbishire2021-04-01T14:38:12+02:00