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EU expression guidelines fail to recognise the right to information

21 May 2014

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"On 12 May 2014, the Council of the European Union adopted the EU Human Rights Guidelines on Freedom of Expression: Online and Offline (Guidelines). The initiative to adopt the Guidelines, which provide “political and operational guidance” to EU staff regarding this important area of EU foreign policy and assistance, is welcome.

At the same time, there are certain problems from the perspective of freedom of expression in the Guidelines. It is, in particular, very problematical that the Guidelines fail to recognise the right of the public to access information held by public authorities as an element of the right to freedom expression and as an operational priority for the EU."

See the full text: EU expression guidelines fail to recognise the right to information (Index on Censorship, link)

See Background on the long struggle for openness: FOI in the EU: Reporting on openness and secrecy in the EU since 1992 and: Statewatch Observatory: the Regulation on access to EU documents: 2008-ongoing

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