Categories
Civil society Oversight

Calls for transparency in the wake of the Qatargate corruption scandal

Universal expressions of outrage are swiftly followed by calls for greater transparency.

Implicated MEPs Eva Kaili and Antonio Panzeri of the European Parliament’s Social Democratic Group (image: Wikipedia creative commons).
Categories
Civil society

Secrecy over Brexit agreement (Part II)

Necessarily restricted public participation? Ombudsman confirmed her findings of maladministration by the Council in absence of increased access to Council Legal Service’s opinion.

While the EU was praised for its transparency in negotiations with the exiting United Kingdom, this openness appears not to extend to its internal legal advice regarding the negotiation process. In this sequel to her previous blog post, Vellamo Jutila analyses the legal exchange following her a complaint to the European Ombudsman concerning the Council’s decision refusing her access to this legal advice.

Categories
Implementation Oversight

EO issues guidelines for EU administrative bodies regarding text message transparency

Concise overview of mobile phone transparency best practices presented in light-hearted text message format.

Detail from the European Ombudsman’s text transparency guidelines brochure, July 2022.
Categories
Civil society

Secrecy over Brexit agreement

In process of obtaining the Council Legal Service’s opinion on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

While the EU was praised for its transparency in negotiations with the exiting United Kingdom, this openness appears not to extend to its internal legal advice regarding the negotiation process. Vellamo Jutila shares her experience of trying to probe behind the scenes of the negotiation process.

Photo credit: iNews