Publish Beneficial Ownership Data (SK0129)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Slovak Republic Action Plan 2019-2021
Action Plan Cycle: 2019
Status: Active
Institutions
Lead Institution: NA
Support Institution(s): NA
Policy Areas
Anti-Corruption, Beneficial Ownership, E-Government, Private Sector, Records ManagementIRM Review
IRM Report: Slovakia Design Report 2019-2021
Starred: Pending IRM Review
Early Results: Pending IRM Review
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information
Implementation i
Description
The commitment is a follow-up to the previous action plan which implemented the measurein the adoption of the Counter-Pact Law 16 and takes into account the outcome of the transposition of the EU Directivesmoney laundering; AML (Anti - Money Laundering) Directives. The result of theseactivities is the existence of two official records of the end-users of the benefits, each of thempursues another purpose. The Public Sector Partners Register 17 is publicly available. Legal Registerpersons, entrepreneurs and public authorities, including registers from which they draw final databeneficiaries, it is non-public in the end user benefit data section 18 .In order to ensure greater transparency as well as the objectives of the new European DirectiveParliament and the EU Council against money laundering 19 , full publicity of data needs to be ensuredon end-users of benefits in the register of legal persons, entrepreneurs and public authorities.Because this Directive is not yet in preparation for the OGP 2019-2021 Action Plantransposed into the Slovak legal order, the task will be based on the validand effective legislation at the time of its implementation. The Slovak Republic is obligatory to the European Directiveto transpose the European Parliament and the Council against money laundering by 10 January 2020.In order to enhance transparency in the theme of the end users of the benefits of the Slovak Republicsigned the Declaration of National Commitment to Fulfillment of End User Benefit Principles 20 .It has thus become part of the coalition of Member States of the Open Government Initiative, which aims tothe development of a new global standard aimed at increasing transparency and reducing abuseresources for criminal activities. Information about the end users benefits to the Declarationsubmissions should be made publicly available in accordance with the End User Disclosure Policybenefits.In order to increase transparency, the USSR ROS will cooperate with the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republicwhen publishing end-user benefit statistics so that this information serves a wide rangepublic.
Specific milestone towards the goal:
8. Implement the Principles for Disclosure of End-Beneficiaries within Official Recordsend user benefits
Deadline: until 31 December 2021
Responsible: Minister of Justice of the Slovak Republic
Co-responsible: Chairman of the Statistical Office of the SR, Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Developmentcivil society
IRM Midterm Status Summary
4. Ensure full disclosure of beneficial ownership data
Main Objective
“Ensure full disclosure of beneficial ownership data in the register of legal entities, entrepreneurs and public authorities.” [40]
Milestones
- Implement the Disclosure Principles for Beneficial Ownership Data into the framework of official registers on beneficial ownership.
Editorial Note: For the complete text of this commitment, please see Slovakia’s action plan at https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/slovakia-action-plan-2019-2021/.
IRM Design Report Assessment | |
Verifiable: | Yes |
Relevant: | Yes Access to Information |
Potential impact: | Transformative |
Commitment Analysis
This commitment seeks to apply and implement international beneficial ownership standards to the data held in the Register of Legal Entities, Businesses, and Public Authorities, which currently does not provide beneficial ownership data. Broadening access to information on beneficial ownership has been a priority of previous Slovak governments outside of the scope of OGP, [41] so Commitment 4 is new to Slovakia’s OGP action plan.
The commitment is relevant to the OGP value of access to information because successful implementation will mean information on beneficial owners of all legal entities registered in Slovakia will be publicly available, not just those that receive public money.
In the current system, [42] [43] any organization (other than a public administrative agency) that is in receipt of public money [44] is obliged to register in the Register of Public Sector Partners [45] and disclose their beneficial (real) owners. [46] The legislation includes robust sanction mechanisms if inaccurate information is provided, such as fines up to EUR 1 million, removal from the company register, and a ban on participating in public procurement. [47] The reform was well-received in Slovakia [48] and abroad. [49] Transparency International Slovakia (TIS) have reported that beneficial ownership information of companies participating in high-value public procurement contracts is publicly available. [50] It includes the name of the beneficial owner, their date of birth, address, and a unique identifier of the company. At the time of writing this report (April 2020), [51] more than 30,000 entities were registered in the Register of Public Sector Partners.
However, despite its benefits, CSOs, TIS in particular, [52] pointed to several deficiencies in the publicly available information, e.g., data inconsistency and a lack of interoperability and interconnectedness of government registers, and demonstrated there is room for improvement. As a member of the Beneficial Ownership Leadership Group, [53] Slovakia has signed up to the principle that beneficial ownership data should be available as high-quality open data. [54] These deficiencies could, therefore, be addressed by implementing the beneficial ownership transparency disclosure principles as foreseen in the commitment.
This commitment to implement the Disclosure Principles means that Slovakia would go further than other EU countries in its implementation of the fifth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Slovakia is due to complete transposition of the Directive, [55] which aims to broaden access to beneficial ownership information through publicly available central registers. In February, the European Commission sent the letter of formal notice to the Slovak government [56] “for not having notified any implementation measures for the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive”. [57] However, some steps had been taken already towards the Directive’s implementation. Government Resolution no. 496/2018 [58] appointed the Interior Ministry (in collaboration with the Finance Ministry and Justice Ministry) to submit the draft law that would ensure the transposition of the Directive by 31 March 2019. In May 2019, the government approved [59] the action plan to combat the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing for the period 2019-2022. [60] The resolution also stated that Article 32a of the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, [61] which requires the EU member states to establish centralized platforms for the publication of the beneficial ownership information of all companies, has to be transposed by 10 September 2020.
The commitment reforms, in particular, the Register of Legal Entities, Businesses, and Public Authorities, operated by the Statistical Office. As the commitment pledges to ensure full disclosure of beneficial ownership data in the Register of Legal Entities, Businesses, and Public Authorities [62] it could have a transformative potential impact as it will substantially increase access to information on beneficial owners. Based on the information provided by the Statistical Office, [63] the number of economic entities in the Register of Legal Entities, Businesses, and Public Authorities (regardless of their legal form) was more than 630,000 in 2019. At the time of writing this report (April 2020), public access to the information in the register was limited without registration and an advanced search was available for registered users only. [64] At that time, it was also unclear whether the Register of Legal Entities, Businesses, and Public Authorities will only be modified to allow full disclosure of beneficial ownership data or whether it will also be merged with the Register of Public Sector Partners.
Data from the Register of Public Sector Partners has been instrumental in documenting true beneficiaries of companies who were known for winning government bids under dubious circumstances. The register confirmed that one of the beneficial owners of Váhostav - SK, a.s. (a construction company) [65] is Juraj Široký, [66] who is an alleged sponsor of the ruling Smer-SD party. [67] Using data from the Slovak register, Transparency International Czech Republic found out -despite claims to the contrary- [68] that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš [69] continued to hold a conflict of interest as the beneficial owner of Agrofert (an agro-food conglomerate), the controlling company of the Agrofert Group. This qualifies as a conflict of interest, [70] as companies owned by politicians are not eligible for European Structural and Investment funds (ESIF), and companies belonging to the Agrofert Group received EUR 42 million in 2013 to EUR 82 million in 2017 in ESIF funds [71] and also participated in projects subsidized by the Rural Development Program of the Czech Republic. At the same time, Babiš acted as a chair of the Czech Council for the ESIF. The revelations prompted the European Parliament to adopt the resolution on conflicts of interest and the protection of the EU budget in the Czech Republic, [72] which urged the European Commission to recuperate “all funds that have been illegally or irregularly paid out”. [73]
In light of the above, the commitment to “ensure full disclosure of beneficial ownership data” is important and might have a transformative impact. If fully implementedt has the potential to significantly increase the number of registered entities in Slovakia that must provide access to information on the real owners of companies. While not an aim of the commitment, it is worth noting its implementation could aid watchdogs like investigative journalists and anti-corruption CSOs in uncovering examples of money laundering or other hidden criminal activity.
Commitments
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Publish Implementation Plans for Regulations
SK0126, 2019, E-Government
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Regularly Publish Government Datasets
SK0127, 2019, Access to Information
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Publish Data on Use of EU Grant Funding
SK0128, 2019, Aid
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Publish Beneficial Ownership Data
SK0129, 2019, Anti-Corruption
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Educational Resources Portal
SK0130, 2019, Capacity Building
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National Open Science Strategy
SK0131, 2019, Capacity Building
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Continuous Education for Participatory Policymaking
SK0132, 2019, Capacity Building
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Report on Public Participation in Lawmaking
SK0133, 2019, Open Regulations
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Civil Society - Government Partnerships
SK0134, 2019, Subnational
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Legislation Materials Portal
SK0135, 2019, Access to Information
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Monitor Fulfillment of the Next Action Plan
SK0136, 2019,
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Open Data Portal
SK0058, 2017, Access to Information
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Submit a Draft Law on Data to the Government.
SK0059, 2017, Access to Information
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Public Administration Employee Training
SK0060, 2017, Access to Information
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Data Publication Standards
SK0061, 2017, Access to Information
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Update Open Data Portal
SK0062, 2017, Access to Information
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Open Data Publication
SK0063, 2017, Access to Information
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Open Data Awareness-Raising
SK0064, 2017, Access to Information
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Survey About Open Data
SK0065, 2017, Access to Information
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Publish Open Data
SK0066, 2017, Access to Information
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Analysis of Open Data
SK0067, 2017, Access to Information
-
Open Data Strategy
SK0068, 2017, Access to Information
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Develop Standards for Publicly Available Application Programming Interfaces and Submit Them to the Commission for the Standardization of Information Systems in Public Administration.
SK0069, 2017, E-Government
-
Ensure Open Data Publication
SK0070, 2017, Access to Information
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Survey of Public Demand for Application Programming Interfaces
SK0071, 2017, E-Government
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Publish Application Programming Interfaces
SK0072, 2017, Access to Information
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Enable the Disclosure of Source Code and Development Using Open Methods for Newly Developed Plug-Ins and Extensions of Web Browsers and Client Applications.
SK0073, 2017, Access to Information
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Custom-Made Information Systems
SK0074, 2017, Access to Information
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Publish Open Source Software Data
SK0075, 2017, Access to Information
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Study About Open Source Software
SK0076, 2017, Access to Information
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Feasibility Study on NGO Satellite Account
SK0077, 2017, Access to Information
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Define the Minimum Scope and Structure of the Disclosed Data on the Use of European Structural and Investment Funds, the EEA Financial Mechanism, Norwegian Financial Mechanism, the Swiss Financial Mechanism and Subsidy Schemes From the State Budget.
SK0078, 2017, Aid
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Publish Financial Data
SK0079, 2017, Access to Information
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Propose Changes to Central Register of Contracts Regulation
SK0080, 2017, Anti-Corruption
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Create Space for the Publication of Local Self-Government (Municipality) Contracts in a Single Central Repository.
SK0081, 2017, Anti-Corruption
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Establish and Operate a Repository of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic for Storage, Long-Term Archiving and Access to Educational Resources.
SK0082, 2017, Access to Information
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Open Education Resources
SK0083, 2017, Access to Information
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Reach Out to Partners Who Have Provided Educational Resources After 2008 to the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic Or to Its Directly Managed OrGanizations, with a Suggestion to Make Educational Resources Available Under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) Public License.
SK0084, 2017, E-Government
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Enforce Public Licensing
SK0085, 2017, Education
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Make Educational Resources Available in Local Langage
SK0086, 2017, Education
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Ensure Availability of University Textbooks
SK0087, 2017, Access to Information
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Introduce Specific Rules for Open Publication and the Obligation to Provide Free Access of Selected Publicly Funded Publica-Tions
SK0088, 2017, Access to Information
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Analyze the Possibility of Applying Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) Public License As Standard for Selected Works Mandatorily Published in the Central Registry of Theses and Dissertations.
SK0089, 2017, E-Government
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Awareness-Raising About Open Education Resources
SK0090, 2017, E-Government
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Publish the Outcomes of the Approval Process of Educational Resources on the Web-Site of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.
SK0091, 2017, Access to Information
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To Introduce the Basic Principles of Open Access to Scientific Publications Under a Public License Under the Operational Program Research and Innovation.
SK0092, 2017, Access to Information
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Ensure the Implementation of Public License Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
SK0093, 2017, Access to Information
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Establish Contact Office for Open Access.
SK0094, 2017, Access to Information
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Establish Conditions for Passportization of Open Research Data Under a Public License and Monitor Its Implementation in Practice.
SK0095, 2017, Access to Information
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Establish and Operate a Repository to Provide Storage, Long-Term Archiving and Ac-Cess to Slovak Scientific and Academic Publications, Research Data and Gray Literature.
SK0096, 2017, Access to Information
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Design Systematic Benchmarking Monitoring Mechanisms for the Measurement and Comparison and Propose Further Analyses Related to Acquiring, Processing and Re-Use of Research Data and Open Access Scientific Publications.
SK0097, 2017, Access to Information
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Raise Awareness About Open Access in Academic Community
SK0098, 2017, Access to Information
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Participate in International Coordination on Open Education Reforms
SK0099, 2017, Access to Information
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Participatory Public Policy
SK0100, 2017, E-Government
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Citizen-Traingin on Public Policy Making
SK0101, 2017, Capacity Building
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Create Engaging Public Policies
SK0102, 2017, Capacity Building
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Government Employee Peer-Exchange
SK0103, 2017, Capacity Building
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Evaluate Identified Participatory Processes of Creation and Implementation of Pub-Lic Policies and Disseminate Examples of Good Practice Based on This Evaluation.
SK0104, 2017, Capacity Building
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Promote Partnership and Dialogue Between Public Authorities, Citizens and NGOs at National, Regional and Local Level in the Area of Participatory Public Policy-Making.
SK0105, 2017, Capacity Building
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Propose a Recommendation of Internal Guidelines on the Use of Free On-Line Tools in Participatory Creation of Public Policies.
SK0106, 2017, Capacity Building
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Create Learning Tools in the Field of Participation.
SK0107, 2017, Capacity Building
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Use Educational Tools About Participation in Formal Education Using Informal Learn-Ing Methods.
SK0108, 2017, E-Government
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Develop Recommendations for Embedding Participatory Processes Into Organiza-Tional Processes, Internal Guidelines and Other Documents for the Needs of Central Government Bodies.
SK0109, 2017, Capacity Building
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Reassess the Implementation of the Publication of Assessments of Judges in Terms of the Clarity and Making Further Analysis Easier
SK0110, 2017, E-Government
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Specify Which Court Decisions Do Not Need to Be Published.
SK0111, 2017, E-Government
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Standardize Submission Requirements for Slov-Lex Portal
SK0112, 2017, Access to Information
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Draft Legislation About the Responsibility of Judges
SK0113, 2017, E-Government
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Draft Legislation to Ensure Public Scrutiny of Judges
SK0114, 2017, Judiciary
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Prepare Legislation That Will Ensure the Publication of the Seat of Office of Individual Prosecutors
SK0115, 2017, E-Government
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Create Draft Legislation to Extend the Right to Recommend Candidates for the Post of Attorney-General.
SK0116, 2017, Legislation & Regulation
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Participatory Analysis of Prosecutor's Affairs
SK0117, 2017, E-Government
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In a Participatory Manner, Analyze the Selection Procedures
SK0118, 2017, Justice
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Awareness-Raising About Anti-Social Activities
SK0119, 2017, Anti-Corruption
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Analyze and Evaluate Preliminary Information and Reports on Public Participation in the Process of Drafting and Commenting on Draft Legislation.
SK0120, 2017, E-Government
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Analyze and Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Electronic Collective Petition.
SK0121, 2017, E-Government
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Identify the Person Responsible for Implementing the Tasks of the OGP National Action Plan 2017-2019 in the Organization.
SK0122, 2017, E-Government
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Coordinate the Working Group on the Implementation of the OGP National Action Plan 2017-2019.
SK0123, 2017,
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Develop the Final Evaluation of the OGP National Action Plan 2017-2019.
SK0124, 2017, E-Government
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Prepare and Submit for the Government of the Slovak Republic the OGP National Action Plan for the Following Period.
SK0125, 2017, E-Government
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List of Open Data Datasets
SK0023, 2015, Access to Information
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Publish Open Data
SK0024, 2015, Access to Information
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Survey of Open Data
SK0025, 2015, Access to Information
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Publish Relevant Open Datasets
SK0026, 2015, Access to Information
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Open Data Publication Strategy
SK0027, 2015, Access to Information
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Grant Scheme Open Data Portal
SK0028, 2015, Access to Information
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Web Portal Promotion Campaign
SK0029, 2015, Access to Information
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Evaluate Grant Funding Open Data Application
SK0030, 2015, Access to Information
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Digital Education Resources
SK0031, 2015, Access to Information
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Map Existing Repositories
SK0032, 2015, Access to Information
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Analyze Procurement Process for Education Resources
SK0033, 2015, Access to Information
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Textbook Procurement Process
SK0034, 2015, Access to Information
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Pilot Procurement Process
SK0035, 2015, Access to Information
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Raise Awareness of Education Resources
SK0036, 2015, Access to Information
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Join Multilateral Activities in Europe and Beyond That Support the Creation, Improvement, Sharing and Re-Use of Open Educational Resources.
SK0037, 2015, Access to Information
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Map Existing Scientific Repositories
SK0038, 2015, Access to Information
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Identify Barriers to Open Data Access
SK0039, 2015, Access to Information
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Submit Analysis of Open Data Publication
SK0040, 2015, Access to Information
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Data Publication Mechanism
SK0041, 2015, Access to Information
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Raise Awareness About Open Access in Academic Community
SK0042, 2015, Access to Information
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Assist Other Countries with Open Access Strategy
SK0043, 2015, Access to Information
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Participatory Policy-Making
SK0044, 2015, Open Regulations
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Workshops on Public Involvement in Policymaking
SK0045, 2015, Capacity Building
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Develop Public Policy with Civil Society
SK0047, 2015, Civic Space
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Develop Criteria for Evaluating Participation in Policymaking
SK0048, 2015, Open Regulations
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Evaluate Policy Creation
SK0049, 2015, Open Regulations
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Map Legislative Environments
SK0050, 2015, Legislative
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Carry Out a Public Campaign to Promote the Collective Electronic Petitions.
SK0051, 2015, Capacity Building
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Publish Evaluation of Justices
SK0052, 2015, Judiciary
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Analyze Publication of Judicial Decisions
SK0053, 2015, Judiciary
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Uniform Reporting of Judicial Decisions
SK0054, 2015, Judiciary
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Publish List of Names of Prosecutors
SK0055, 2015, Judiciary
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Final Evaluation of OGP Action Plan
SK0056, 2015,
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Develop Next Action Plan
SK0057, 2015,
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Open Data Portal Launch
SK0001, 2012, Access to Information
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Publishing Datasets
SK0002, 2012, Access to Information
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Datasets Mapping
SK0003, 2012, Access to Information
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Data Standards
SK0004, 2012, Access to Information
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Improved Register of Contracts
SK0005, 2012, Fiscal Openness
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Continuous Dataset Publising
SK0006, 2012, Access to Information
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ITMS Dataset
SK0007, 2012, Access to Information
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EU Funds and Subsidies Monitoring
SK0008, 2012, Fiscal Openness
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EU Funds and Subsidies Monitoring – Prepare Tender for Web Application
SK0009, 2012, Anti-Corruption
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EU Funds and Subsidies Monitoring – Portal Launch
SK0010, 2012, E-Government
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Participatory Policy Making
SK0011, 2012, Capacity Building
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Apply Participatory Policy Making
SK0012, 2012, Open Regulations
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Lawmaking Public Participation Rules
SK0013, 2012, Legislation & Regulation
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Participatory Policy Making
SK0014, 2012, Open Regulations
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Collective e-Petitions
SK0015, 2012, E-petitions
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Collective e-Petitions – Draft Amendment
SK0016, 2012, E-petitions
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OGP Steering Committee
SK0017, 2012,
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Transparency Council and Openess Barometer
SK0018, 2012, Access to Information
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Develop Criteria for Transparency Council and Openess Barometer
SK0019, 2012, Access to Information
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Conduct First Evaluation Using Openess Barometer
SK0020, 2012, Access to Information
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Whistleblowers Protection Act
SK0021, 2012, Anti-Corruption
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2014-2015 Action Plan Development
SK0022, 2012,