Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact
  • Home /
  • News /
  • 2011 /
  • March /
  • EU: Access to documents Regulation: Access Info Europe survey: The Secret State of EU Transparency Reforms

EU: Access to documents Regulation: Access Info Europe survey: The Secret State of EU Transparency Reforms

01 March 2011

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

EU: Access to documents Regulation: Access Info Europe survey: The Secret State of EU Transparency Reforms (pdf): 16 out of 27 Member States refuse to provide information on EU transparency negotiations

"European citizens can’t find out from either Brussels or from national governments which countries are lobbying against EU transparency, according to a report launched by the NGO Access Info Europe this week. After submitting access to information requests in all 27 Member States, Access Info Europe reports in “The Secret State of EU Transparency Reforms” that it only has a very partial picture of the positions countries are taking in negotiations in Brussels.

Only 11 countries provided information about either their positions and/or the process of the reform of Regulation 1049/2001. Two of these, the Netherlands and the UK, only provided information following appeals. Of the 16 countries did not provide any information, of which eight countries formally refused, five referred us back to the Council and four did not respond (administrative silence).

In total 23 countries applied exceptions to all or part of the information requested. Protection of “ongoing negotiations”, “decision making” and “international relations” were commonly used exceptions. Also used to shield governments from accountability were grounds that the information was held in “internal documents” or “might create misunderstanding.”

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

EU: Proposed Commission changes to Regulation on access to documents fail to meet Lisbon Treaty commitments

Next article 

Germany: Stoppt die Vorratsdatenspeicherung!: German statistics prove telecommunications data retention superfluous

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy