28 May 2019

Concurso «Citizen Participation 2.0» Soluciones digitales para mejorar la participación ciudadana

2019-06-13T12:30:38+02:00

¿Tienes una idea para una nueva aplicación o plataforma que ayude a mejorar la comunicación y participación ciudadana para resolver los problemas de sus comunidades? ¿Eres de los que piensa que una democracia digital puede ayudar a mejorar la inclusión de la ciudadanía en la toma de decisiones? Si tus respuestas a estas preguntas son positivas, te invitamos a compartir tu idea sobre una solución digital innovadora que fortalezca el activismo ciudadano y mejore la comunicación entre los ciudadanos y aquellos que toman las decisiones. Seleccionaremos las cinco mejores ideas, y entre ellas habrá el ganador o ganadora de un

Concurso «Citizen Participation 2.0» Soluciones digitales para mejorar la participación ciudadana2019-06-13T12:30:38+02:00
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
4 Oct 2017

La sociedad civil demanda una sólida regulación del lobby

2018-11-13T10:06:28+01:00

Madrid, 4 de octubre de 2017 – Access Info Europe y Transparencia Internacional España instan a los grupos parlamentarios a que la regulación del lobby en el Congreso de los Diputados garantice la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas en la toma de decisiones, en línea con los estándares internacionales. Las organizaciones han valorado positivamente la reanudación del debate sobre la regulación de la actividad de los lobbies a través de la Proposición de reforma del Reglamento del Congreso de los Diputados presentada por el Grupo Parlamentario Popular. Sin embargo, consideran que el alcance del actual texto es muy limitado,

La sociedad civil demanda una sólida regulación del lobby2018-11-13T10:06:28+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 Dic 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 Dic 2016

Access Info impugna ante el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea el secretismo de la Comisión con el asesoramiento jurídico sobre el acuerdo UE-Turquía

2018-11-13T10:06:30+01:00

Madrid, 2 de diciembre de 2016 – Access Info Europe lleva a la Comisión Europea ante el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea (TJUE) para obtener el análisis jurídico que recibió esta institución sobre el controvertido acuerdo UE-Turquía sobre la devolución de refugiados a Turquía. El acuerdo del 18 de marzo de 2016 – oficialmente, una “declaración”, y que está teniendo un impacto directo en las vidas de miles de migrantes y demandantes de asilo que huyen de la guerra – fue muy criticado por las organizaciones de defensa de los derechos humanos por no cumplir con los estándares

Access Info impugna ante el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea el secretismo de la Comisión con el asesoramiento jurídico sobre el acuerdo UE-Turquía2018-11-13T10:06:30+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
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