EU Calls on Spain to Strengthen Transparency Law: Will there be an OGP commitment?
The anticorruption reports published by the EU at the beginning of February confirmed the worry that many Europeans had about the perceived levels of corruption in Europe: Eurobarometer survey results showed that three quarters (76%) of Europeans think that corruption is widespread and more than half (56%) think that the level of corruption in their country has increased over the past three years.
The reports also highlighted the Spanish public’s perception of an extreme culture of corruption there, noting that 95% of the public believe that corruption is widespread, and 65% stating that they are directly affected by corruption.
Significantly, the report for Spain made a number of recommendations to tackle the problem of corruption including measures to strengthen the new transparency law adopted in December 2013, in line with those which Access Info Europe and other civil society organisations have been campaigning for. Adoption of an access to information law, a requisite for joining the OGP, was one of the promises the Spanish government had made in its first national action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen....
The recommendations from civil society and the EU have urged the Spanish government to act immediately to guarantee the independence of the appeals body, to enhance sanctions for non-compliance, and to narrow the scope of exceptions to the principle of access to information.
It is regrettable however, that the EU had not also called on Spain to recognise the fundamental right of access to information in line with the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. Despite being one of the newest laws to be adopted, the Spanish transparency law is serious lacking in number of areas and comes 72nd out of the 96 countries with access to information laws according the RTI Rating.
It is also concerning that in spite of the pressing need to tackle corruption and secrecy, the law will not be in force at the national level until 10 December 2014, and not fully in force at the regional and local level until December 2015.
The EU’s anti-corruption report also highlights challenging areas where Spain needs to enhance public integrity and transparency; lobbying, political party financing and public procurement. Access Info Europe, a human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and protecting the right of access to information, in January 2014 launched a campaign in Spain for regulation of lobbying, which is currently unregulated, and for specific rules which will strengthen transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More of the activity of lobbyists.
It remains to be seen if Spain’s next OGP national action plan with deal with any of these issues, and whether the government will invite civil society to help draft any of the commitments. Spanish civil society is ready and open to engage, but is not holding its breath to be invited to participate in any significant way any time soon.
Click here for the factsheet on Spain and the EU Anti-Corruption Report
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