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14 Feb 2020

The EU should open up to citizens via social media to engage them in decision making

2020-03-02T17:27:21+01:00

Madrid, 14 February 2020 – Citizens across Europe need better access to information to participate in decision-making processes at European, national, and local level. This is one of the main recommendations by Access Info Europe and partners in the publication ‘YOU4EU Policy Recommendations’, presented in Brussels on 6 February 2020 at the high-level conference “Engaging citizens for good governance in Cohesion Policy”. The publication is based on extensive research in five countries by Access Info Europe in Spain, Belgrade Open School in Serbia, Gong in Croatia, Institute Alternative in Montenegro and PiNA in Slovenia. The organisations found that European Institutions

The EU should open up to citizens via social media to engage them in decision making2020-03-02T17:27:21+01:00
15 Apr 2019

Access Info once again urges Spain to recognise access to information as a fundamental right

2019-04-17T10:53:20+02:00

Madrid, 12 April 2019 – When Spain elects a new government on 28 April 2019, one of its pending tasks is to ensure that the weak transparency law is reformed to meet international standards, and to recognise a fundamental right in line with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. To this end, Access Info has proposed that in its next Open Government Partnership Action Plan, Spain commits to recognise the right to information, with measures such as removing identification requirements for requesters and ensuring that the law applies to all branches of power not just the executive

Access Info once again urges Spain to recognise access to information as a fundamental right2019-04-17T10:53:20+02:00
21 Sep 2017

Spanish High Court orders disclosure of documents about OGP citing European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence

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

[UPDATE - 2 March 2018 - The documents disclosed can be found here.] Madrid, 21 September 2017 – Spain’s High Court has ruled that Access Info Europe should have access to Spanish Government documents related to participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in an important ruling where the Court for the first time makes reference to the right of access to information in international treaties. In a final decision, which is not open to appeal, the High Court rejected the Spanish Government’s attempt to classify progress reports on the OGP Action Plan as internal documents of an “auxiliary” nature.

Spanish High Court orders disclosure of documents about OGP citing European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence2018-11-13T10:03:07+01:00
13 Sep 2017

Access Info urges OECD to adopt strong and clear definition of Open Government

2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00

Madrid, 13 September 2017 – Access Info Europe has urged the Organisation for Cooperation and Economic Development (OECD) to adopt a definition of an “Open Government” as one characterised by transparency, participation, responsiveness, and accountability, in line with increasingly established standards set by bodies such as the Open Government Partnership. Responding to the OECD’s public consultation on Open Government, Access Info raised concerns that the draft Recommendation confused three things: - the tools needed to achieve open government (such as use of new technologies to open up data) - the characteristics of an open government (transparency, participation and accountability) -

Access Info urges OECD to adopt strong and clear definition of Open Government2018-11-13T10:03:18+01:00
7 Jun 2017

Spanish Government takes open government secrecy battle to High Court

2018-11-13T10:03:20+01:00

Madrid, 7 June 2017 – In baffling reluctance to be transparent about its own open government policies, the Spanish Government has appealed to the High Court against last month’s lower court ruling that it should provide Access Info Europe with progress reports on commitments under the Open Government Partnership (OGP). “It’s amazing that the Government is fighting so hard to keep secret information about what it’s doing to advance open government,” stated Helen Darbishire, Executive Director of Access Info Europe. The documents on what each Ministry is doing under the OGP Action Plan were first requested by Access Info Europe

Spanish Government takes open government secrecy battle to High Court2018-11-13T10:03:20+01:00
17 Feb 2017

OGP in Spain: More political will on participation, but legal battles for information are still underway!

2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00

[Article first published by the Open Government Partnership Blog] Madrid, 17 February 2017 - February has been a month in which numerous high level political figures in Spain have been found guilty and sent to jail on corruption charges, including King Felipe VI’s own brother-in-law sentenced to six years in prison (more info in English here), things are also moving forward in a positive way when it comes to developing open government, with a new political team working on the next OGP Action Plan and Madrid City Hall holding an innovative, large-scale, public consultation as part of its first OGP

OGP in Spain: More political will on participation, but legal battles for information are still underway!2018-11-13T10:03:42+01:00
24 Nov 2016

Civil society calls on Spanish Government to be open about the Open Government Partnership – again!

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

Madrid, 24 November 2016 – A letter from seventeen (17) Spanish civil society organisations sent today to the Spanish government calls for information about progress on the third Open Government Partnership Action Plan, as well as urging the Spanish authorities to send ministerial level representatives to the OGP summit, to be held in Paris on 7-9 December 2016. The letter from members of the Coalicíon Pro Acceso[1], also signed by five (5) individual transparency experts, notes that Paris is a high level summit, and at least 32 countries, including France, Germany and the UK, will be sending heads of state

Civil society calls on Spanish Government to be open about the Open Government Partnership – again!2018-11-13T10:03:58+01:00
3 May 2016

Civil society urges OGP Steering Committee to undertake strong reforms and rally its core values

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

Madrid, 3 May 2016 - The Open Government Partnership is in need of substantial reforms in order for it to become a real actor of change for greater transparency, participation and accountability worldwide, Access Info Europe and Alianza Regional have stated in an open letter sent to the organisation’s Steering Committee. The letter, supported by 64 civil society organisations, addresses five areas of improvement aiming to increase the OGP’s credibility and strengthen its core values: » Establishing clear and rigorous criteria for dealing with human rights violations by participating countries; » Ensuring real participation and co-creation of OGP Action Plans;

Civil society urges OGP Steering Committee to undertake strong reforms and rally its core values2018-11-13T10:04:11+01:00
27 Nov 2015

Documents used in decision making are not “internal” rules Spain’s Transparency Council

2018-11-13T10:04:36+01:00

Madrid, 27 November 2015 – In another important decision from Spain’s Transparency Council, Access Info Europe has been granted access to Spanish government progress reports on Open Government Partnership (OGP) commitments. The Transparency Council’s decision rejects arguments by the Ministry of the Presidency that these documents, which were used as part of the decision-making process, are “internal documents.” In August 2015, Access Info’s director Helen Darbishire asked for copies of OGP-related documents in order to get an insight into what the government is doing in implementing the action plan. This request was necessary because, unlike in other OGP countries, there

Documents used in decision making are not “internal” rules Spain’s Transparency Council2018-11-13T10:04:36+01:00
16 Oct 2015

Access Info issues formal complaint on Spain’s lack of commitment to the OGP

2018-11-13T10:11:14+01:00

Madrid, 16 October 2015 - Access Info Europe submitted a formal complaint to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in relation to the Spanish government’s manifest lack of commitment towards the principles and values supported by the Alliance, of which Spain is member since 2011. Access Info’s complaint is specifically structured around four key obstacles to transparency, participation and accountability which constantly complicate collaboration and cooperation with the government when trying advance in open government matters: No communications mechanisms have been set up to enable dialogue and facilitate consultation processes with civil society; this includes the absence of an identifiable contact

Access Info issues formal complaint on Spain’s lack of commitment to the OGP2018-11-13T10:11:14+01:00
Original content developed by Access Info Europe and is made public under a Creative Commons Attribution, Share Alike licence.