Category: Civil society

News from openness activists, thinktanks, interest groups and other non-state actors.

Civil society Oversight

Calls for transparency in the wake of the Qatargate corruption scandal

Post author By Editor
Post date December 16, 2022

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).

Tags 2022, antonio panzeri, corruption, EU ethics, European Ombudsman, european parliament, eva kaili, lobbying, olaf, qatar, qatargate, register, scandal

Civil society

Secrecy over Brexit agreement (Part II)

Post author By Editor
Post date September 27, 2022

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.

Britain has gone through four PMs since Brexit

Tags 2022, access to documents, confirmatory application, council, eu-uk trade and cooperation agreement, European Ombudsman, regulation 1049, vellamo jutila

Civil society

Secrecy over Brexit agreement

Post author By Editor
Post date June 2, 2022

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.