30 Mar 2022

Malta Tribunal decides case in favour of Access Info and extends the right to information to non-residents

2022-03-30T14:03:23+02:00

30 March 2022 – Access Info has successfully defended the right of access to information in Malta, winning a court ruling from Malta’s Information and Data Protection Appeals Tribunal that all EU citizens have a right to submit information requests. The case arose from an August 2019 request for data on migration to Malta submitted by an Italian citizen working at Access Info’s Madrid office. The request was refused by Malta’s Ministry of Home Affairs and National Security on the grounds that she was not a Maltese resident. Malta’s 2008 Freedom of Information Act says that requesters must be both

Malta Tribunal decides case in favour of Access Info and extends the right to information to non-residents2022-03-30T14:03:23+02:00
21 Jul 2020

Entidades sociales impugnan ante el Tribunal Supremo la concesión de 30 millones de euros del Fondo de Contingencia a Marruecos para control de la migración

2020-07-21T11:14:45+02:00

Madrid/Sevilla, 20 de julio de 2020 – Las organizaciones de derechos humanos Access Info Europe y Andalucía Acoge, bajo la dirección jurídica de Gentium, y con el apoyo de Profundo, han presentado esta semana sus argumentos en una demanda ante el Tribunal Supremo, solicitando que se anule el Acuerdo del Consejo de Ministros del día 19 de julio de 2019, donde se autorizó la concesión de 30 millones de euros del Fondo de Contingencia de Ejecución Presupuestaria para sufragar parte de los gastos de las autoridades marroquíes en sus labores de control del flujo migratorio hacia España.  El objetivo de

Entidades sociales impugnan ante el Tribunal Supremo la concesión de 30 millones de euros del Fondo de Contingencia a Marruecos para control de la migración2020-07-21T11:14:45+02:00
5 Mar 2020

Llamamiento a la transparencia de Frontex

2020-03-05T17:16:32+01:00

Madrid/Bruselas, 5 de marzo 2020 – Access Info Europe se ha unido hoy a Open Knowledge Alemania y más de 40 organizaciones de la sociedad civil para pedir a la Agencia Europea de Fronteras y Guardacostas (Frontex) que deje de imponer tasas legales a los activistas y defensores de derechos humanos para evitar que ejerzan su derecho de acceso a la información. En una carta enviada Director de Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, y al jefe de la Unidad Legal y de Adquisiciones, Hervé Caniard, las organizaciones piden a esta agencia de la UE que retire la factura por costes legales enviada

Llamamiento a la transparencia de Frontex2020-03-05T17:16:32+01:00
2 Mar 2020

Los honorarios legales de Frontex ponen en riesgo la defensa de la transparencia

2020-03-05T17:28:22+01:00

2 de marzo 2020 – Access Info mostró hoy su preocupación por la elevada factura de los abogados de 23.700,81 euros, enviada por la agencia de fronteras de la UE, Frontex, a los activistas de transparencia Luisa Izuzquiza y Arne Semsrott, después de que perdieran un caso de acceso a documentos en el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea. La factura comprende tanto la asistencia jurídica externa como los gastos de viaje, aunque no se ha recibido ningún desglose de los elementos precisos. El caso se refería a una solicitud de acceso a documentos sobre las operaciones navales realizadas

Los honorarios legales de Frontex ponen en riesgo la defensa de la transparencia2020-03-05T17:28:22+01:00
8 Feb 2018

Secrecy over international relations trumps transparency of EU-Turkey deal

2019-11-07T10:28:33+01:00

Madrid, 8 February 2018 - The General Court of the European Union has ruled that the public does not have the right to access the European Commission’s legal advice on the March 2016 EU-Turkey agreement on returning migrants and asylum seekers from Greece to Turkey. The Commission had applied a series of exceptions to documents requested by Access Info Europe, documents that the court process revealed included late night emails between high level public officials discussing legal and political aspects of the controversial deal. The judgments shed further light on the scope and application by the EU Commission of the

Secrecy over international relations trumps transparency of EU-Turkey deal2019-11-07T10:28:33+01:00
8 Feb 2018

The documents in dispute: The European Commission’s legal advice on the EU-Turkey deal

2019-11-07T10:29:55+01:00

From 7 March 2016, the day when a pre-agreement with Turkey was reached, to 12 April 2016, when the deal was already under implementation, the European Commission consulted with its legal services on a wide range of issues related to the legality of the EU-Turkey agreement. These consultations resulted in a total of 11 documents – sometimes produced at late hours in the night – which were exchanged between the different actors involved in the making of the deal, accompanied with telephone conversations. Access to that information was challenged by Access Info Europe in two cases before the General Court

The documents in dispute: The European Commission’s legal advice on the EU-Turkey deal2019-11-07T10:29:55+01:00
30 Nov 2017

Disclosed documents reveal that EU training of Libyan Coast Guard makes negligible reference to human rights protection

2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00

Madrid, 30 November 2017 – Respect and protection of human rights are a negligible part of the EU’s training to the Libyan Coast Guard, as revealed by the training materials the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) disclosed in response to an access to documents request. From a total of 20 documents – including a video – released, only 0,5% of the content is dedicated to ensuring the protection of human rights. Instead, the presentations and handouts mainly address possible indications of human trafficking, interrogation, and documentation techniques, as well as the handling of weather apps. This comes in

Disclosed documents reveal that EU training of Libyan Coast Guard makes negligible reference to human rights protection2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00
8 Nov 2017

General Court of the European Union hears arguments for transparency of EU-Turkey Deal

2018-11-13T10:03:06+01:00

Luxembourg, 8 November 2017 – Access Info Europe had a hearing today in the General Court of the European Union in the case for access to documents it brought against the Commission, seeking access to certain documents containing legal analysis and advice relating to the EU-Turkey refugee return deal. This case started at the very same time as the EU-Turkey deal was reached (EU summit 17-18 March 2016) in the face of concerns raised by key human rights bodies such as the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner and the UNHCR about the deal’s content. "Our goal was to get

General Court of the European Union hears arguments for transparency of EU-Turkey Deal2018-11-13T10:03:06+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