'Access Info Europe' to join ALTER-EU's steering committee

Access Info Europe is a human rights organisation which works to defend and protect the public's right to access information. We work on a range of projects, including open government data, anti-corruption, and freedom of information monitoring across Europe and the world. We also conduct national campaigns for improved access to information in Spain, Cyprus and France, for example.

At the European Union level Access Info is working on a variety of things, including:

• Strategic Litigation: Access Info has taken the Council of the European Union to the European Court of Justice. The case, C-280/11 P, is a dispute over whether or not the public has the right to know what their government is proposing in negotiations between Member States in the Council. We defend the public's right to access this information, while the Council, backed by the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain and the UK, argue that full publication would harm the decision-making process.

• Reform of EU Transparency Regulation: the access to information rules of the EU (Regulation 1049/2001) have been under reform since 2008. Access Info has been following the process, lobbying MEPs to only permit amendments to improve the Regulation, and countering the arguments put forward by the Commission and others to restrict the right of access to EU information.

• Monitoring freedom of information in practice: The Secret State of EU Transparency Reforms report demonstrates how difficult it is for citizens to obtain information from their own Member States about what they propose for the future of EU transparency. We filed requests in all 27 EU countries, but 16 completely failed to provide any information.

• AsktheEU.org: Access Info launched this website on the 9th International Right to Know Day, 28 September 2011. Via AsktheEU.org, anyone can file an access to documents request with any institution in the EU in minutes. The requests and responses are made public immediately, and the software encourages citizens to appeal denials of information and to go to the European Ombudsman or to Court if necessary.

• ALTER-EU: Access Info Europe has just become a member of the Steering Committee of the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation. We will strive to ensure that the alliance keeps growing and has a positive impact on the transparency, accountability and impartiality of the EU.

• ALTER-Citizens: As of next year, six organisations from the ALTER-EU Coalition will begin a project which aims to bring citizens into the decision-making process of the EU in order to counter the disproportionate influence of private interest groups. Events will take place on the national level in Belgium (Friends of the Earth Europe), Czech Republic (Environmental Law Service), France (AITEC), the Netherlands (Health Action International), Spain (Access Info Europe) and the UK (SpinWatch). There will also be a central event in Brussels in October 2012, at which a citizens' report will be launched based on national level experiences, and where we will give out "the most responsive official" award.