Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact
  • Home /
  • News /
  • 2016 /
  • June /
  • EU: Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly calls for more EU transparency

EU: Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly calls for more EU transparency

27 June 2016

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

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution calling for transparency in EU institutions to be improved in a number of ways: ensuring full access to documents; joining the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body; and better tracking of lobbying efforts.

Resolution 2125 (2016): Transparency and openness in EU institutions (pdf)

Summary by PACE: Improving transparency in European institutions (link):

"While welcoming the measures recently taken by the EU institutions to improve its transparency and avoid conflicts of interest – in particular the new version of the Joint Transparency Register – PACE called for additional measures to ensure fair access to these institutions by all extra-institutional actors (interest and pressure groups, trade unions and consumer organisations) and to guarantee full access to their documents.

In adopting a resolution, based on the report by Nataša Vuckovic (Serbia, SOC), the Assembly also called on the EU to co-operate more closely with the Council of Europe, in particular by joining the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body GRECO (Group of States against Corruption), and to sign up to the Convention on Access to Official Documents.

PACE also recommended that legislative footprints be published in order to track any input aimed at influencing EU legislation and policies, and that the Joint Transparency Register be further improved by expanding it to all EU institutions. The European Ombudsman’s recommendations on transparency should also be implemented.

Finally the Assembly recommended that the Committee of Ministers finalise its legal instrument on the regulation of lobbying activities and consider the need to take measures to regulate the activities of extra-institutional actors in the Council of Europe."

A recent European Parliament study examines the issues of openness, transparency and access to documents in depth. See: Openness, Transparency and the Right of Access to Documents in the EU (pdf)

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

 Previous article

EU: Border and coast guard: consolidated text of proposed Regulation

Next article 

SWITZERLAND: Anti-torture Committee calls for prison reforms and an end to police drug squad brutality

 

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