The Spanish government indicated June 21 that it will present an access to information bill.
The announcement followed passage by the House of Representatives calling for such a law, a cause that transparency activists have pressed hard this year. A top government official in March pledged to produce a bill in a month, but did not meet the self-imposed deadline, and similar promises date back four years. (See previous Freedominfo.org.report.)
An extensive article (in Spanish) on the need for an access law was published June 22 in El Pais.
Access Info Europe, an NGO specializing in government transparency, welcomed the indication that a bill would be forthcoming while pointing out that a 2010 leaked version falls below the Council of Europe minimum standards.
Access Info Europe June 22 called on all political parties to ensure that the future access to information law will fully guarantee the fundamental right of access to information.
“The ‘true democracy’ the protesters in the Madrid’s central plaza, the Puerta del Sol, are calling for is a democracy in which citizens can know what the state is doing with their money,” commented Victoria Anderica of Access Info Europe. “With the draft which was leaked to Access Info Europe last year, this will be impossible.”
The group said shortcomings in the leaked law include it will not apply to all public bodies and all their information, and will not guarantee a reasonable timeframe for receiving information.
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